The Fox's Exile
by ethantrieswriting
Summary: Orochimaru, having taken Gen'yūmaru's body days before Sasuke abandoned the Leaf, has now drastically altered the aftermath of the Sasuke Retrieval Mission. Forces who've long been delegated to watching from the outside will make the most of this opportunity, and Naruto will have to do all he can not to lose himself amidst the mass hysteria that is the new Ninja World. IN PROGRESS
1. The Snake, The Slug, and The Copy Cat

**WARNING: This story is rated 'M' for a reason. It includes excessive profanity and violent fight scenes. Do _not_ proceed if you plan on criticizing its adult themes. They are an integral part of my writing style, and I will not abandon them for a more consistent audience.**

* * *

 **Hello!**

 **Welcome to the first chapter of my ongoing dramatic Naruto fan fiction,** _ **The Fox's Exile**_ **! For those few who know me and my work, this story used to be much longer. I'd written a different version of it two years ago, but it had grown stale for me, ultimately forcing me to take two very long hiatuses in order to continue writing it.**

 **I soon realized that I didn't want to continue that cycle, so I've redone the entire thing! I understand there were some who had no issue with the original iteration of this story, but as the author, I had no choice but to start fresh. If I'd continued with the way it was going before, I would have never finished it, and I** _ **do**_ **eventually plan on finishing this story.**

 **I thank all those who are willing to give this new take a chance.**

 **Please know that I appreciate and encourage all reviews. I enjoy interacting with my readers, and there are times when some offer legitimate insight that helps the growth of my story.**

 **Now, all that aside, I hope anyone who wanders upon this story likes it!**

* * *

 **The Snake, The Slug, and The Copy Cat**

Sasuke held himself horizontally on the foundation of the statue of Madara Uchiha in the Valley of the End. His eyes hadn't left his yellow-haired teammate in some time.

' _Cerulean,_ ' he thought to himself. ' _They were cerulean._ ' His heavily altered face softened the slightest bit at this thought. ' _Those eyes… they were so blue… and no matter how angry or driven by vengeance I was, they could always lighten my heart._

' _They were cerulean._ '

They _were_ , but not anymore.

Those once-delightful eyes now bled with a malevolence the likes of which Sasuke had never seen before. They were crimson, the color of war. They conveyed every vile thing the young blond was willing to do to him to stop him from abandoning his village.

Sasuke couldn't let that happen.

Still… despite his determination to follow his path of revenge and leave his ties to the Leaf Village far behind him, the glare from the demonic boy in front of him shook his resolve to the very core. It was almost enough to make him hesitate, but Sasuke new better. He needed to get stronger, and no one was going to stop him.

No one.

* * *

Naruto stood in a feral crouch along the bottom of the Hashirama Senju monument, opposite his mutated brethren.

' _He really means it,_ ' Naruto thought to himself. ' _He really wants to kill me._ ' He ground his teeth together in frustration, hoping an idea on how to stop his friend from abandoning all those who care about him without killing him would arise amongst his thoughts in the next few moments.

Thinking…

 _Thinking…_

Nope. Nothing.

' _I'm not letting Orochimaru take you, never in a million years! I'm taking you home, Sasuke, even if I have to rip your legs off and drag your hobbled body back by your stupid, chicken-shaped hair, I'm gonna do it!'_

The young jinchūriki summoned an immense amount of chakra to the surface of his body, causing the stone beneath his feet to crack and the consequential dust to levitate around his ankles.

' _Like I said before – you're not going anywhere!_ '

* * *

Sasuke could feel the burning energy pulsing from Naruto's body and new he was preparing to strike. Preemptively, he held his left wrist and began funneling chakra to his left hand, causing black-tinged lightning to appear.

Naruto growled and shot his right hand to his side, forming a spinning, vermillion-purple ball of chakra in his palm.

There was a noticeable moment of hesitation from both boys.

Only a moment.

They both pushed off their perches with tremendous force, rocketing toward one another. They were both moving incredibly fast, and the distance they had to cover was short, yet it seemed to take forever for them to meet; finally, however, they reached their destination. Extending their attacking arms, they connected.

" **Chidori!** "

" **Rasengan!** "

Their attacks collided, causing an instantaneous and gargantuan explosion of chakra that emanated in every direction. Following the impact, their respective jutsu slid off one another and continued their course toward their opponent's hearts. Unfortunately, Sasuke's arms were a bit longer than Naruto's. This allowed his lightning-gloved fingertips to strike Naruto first, causing his Rasengan to dissipate.

The bewhiskered boy managed to land a slanted scratch across his friend's Leaf headband before losing consciousness.

* * *

Sasuke stood solemnly above his fallen comrade, staring down at his peaceful face. The Uchiha's expression was blank, no sadness to be seen, but more noticeably, no sense of excitement or happiness for his victory was visible either.

The knot in his headband was undone, causing it to fall to the ground next to Naruto's messy blond hair. The remaining sunlight on their battlefield had almost completely receded, the last ray closing in on the jinchūriki's forehead and finally disappearing. It was then that Sasuke heard the rain drops begin to hit the stone on which they stood.

He looked up into the gray, murky sky as water droplets fell upon his face. A shockwave of pain suddenly caught Sasuke by surprise, ripping through his left shoulder and arm. He gripped the curse mark tightly, attempting to subdue the metaphorical lightning coursing through his blood, but the discomfort brought him to his knees and face-to-face with Naruto's still-slumbering form.

' _Why, Naruto?_ ' he asked no one. ' _Why did you have to follow me?_ '

A frustrated scowl appeared on his face. "I _tried_ to let you live, Naruto!" he yelled into the usually-loud boy's face, receiving no response. "I was going to leave without doing what he said I'd have to do, but you just _had_ to follow me, didn't you?!" The continued silence frustrated him further, and Sasuke clenched his fists, turning his knuckles white. "Answer me, you idiot!"

He pulled his fist back in anger, but paused. After a moment of contemplation, he lowered his hand back to his side.

"No," he said, forcing himself to his feet. "I won't do things his way. Never." He remained staring at his unconscious friend for another few minutes. "Let me go, Naruto.

"Let me go if you know what's good for you."

Sasuke turned to make his way into the forest opposite the direction of the Leaf when another shockwave of pain rippled throughout him, causing him to stumble. Rather than hitting the ground, he landed against the waiting back of Kabuto Yakushi.

"Wha-?" the boy started, but trailed off when he saw a certain snake sannin standing at the edge of the trees, smiling at him.

"Very good, my boy," Orochimaru said, "very good indeed. I must say, I'm impressed. I was beginning to worry the little beast would prove too much for you."

Kabuto turned to glance at the Uchiha on his back. "Though I can't say I'm not disappointed at your decision to let Naruto live," he said with that condescending smile, forcing as much of a scowl as Sasuke could muster.

"Nevertheless," the venomous legend hissed, "I'll respect it. I, too, made a similar choice long ago, though for very different reasons, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't regret it." He turned and began walking slowly, raising his left arm and beckoning the medical ninja with a short hand gesture. "Come, Kabuto. We should get Sasuke to the Sound Village as soon as possible, yes? Wouldn't want to wait around for the flies to begin buzzing."

Kabuto smiled. "Yes, Lord Orochimaru," he said, and they both sprang into the trees, leaving Naruto to soak in the rain.

* * *

"Naruto!" Pakun barked as he and his master broke through the dense foliage and landed on the bank of the river. "Kakashi, it's him!"

Kakashi Hatake made his way to the genin's side and put two fingers to his neck. Releasing a thankful sigh, he said, "he's alive."

"That's good news," the ninja pup said in his gravelly voice. He sniffed the air. "Sasuke was here not too long ago, I'd say a few minutes." He sniffed again, then his eyes shot wide as he let out a gasp. "Orochimaru…"

Kakashi dawned a shocked expression. "What?" he asked, stunned.

The small dog grimaced. "Orochimaru was here, too, along with a third I don't recognize."

The copy ninja closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath through his nose, then grunted in frustration. "Kabuto."

Just then, multiple figures broke through the trees from which Kakashi had sprung previously. Tsunade Senju, Shizune, and four medical ninja made their way to the prone boy and his teacher. They all gasped at the sight of the young jinchūriki and the state he was in; all but Tsunade.

Tsunade's teeth and fists clenched simultaneously, a vein appearing in her forehead.

"Where is he?" she growled at the one-eyed jōnin.

Kakashi looked at her solemnly. "Sasuke is gone, Lady Hokage."

"Not Sasuke," she said through closed teeth, coaxing a surprised look from the former Anbu captain. "Orochimaru. I know he was here."

Pakun took a few strong whiffs of the air around him. Lifting a paw and pointing it in a direction, he said, "that way, my lady."

The slug sannin let out a furious grunt. "Shizune, oversee Naruto's return to the village. Hatake, with me."

Kakashi stood. "Are you sure you want to pursue them, my lady?" Her icy glare made his blood cold.

" _With me_ , Hatake."

He knew better than to argue further. "Yes, Lady Hokage."

Sparing another look to make sure the medical ninja were beginning to carry out her orders, Tsunade leapt into the trees in the direction Pakun specified, the pup in question and his master on her heels.

Shizune stood by while the men in white medical ninja robes placed the injured boy on the stretcher.

' _Naruto,_ ' she thought to herself. Ever since the brash twelve-year-old accompanied Master Jiraiya to find Lady Tsunade and bring her back to the village, and he'd protected her from Kabuto, he'd shown her a bravery she'd seen in few others, and she'd grown to view him as a little brother. Seeing him this way hurt her heart, because she knew how much it must have pained him to have to face his friend in battle – to say nothing of how worried she was about his physical wounds.

' _Please be okay, Naruto._ '

Shizune and the medical shinobi started toward the village in hopes to get Naruto appropriate care quickly, attempting to quell their concern for their Hokage.

* * *

Kakashi followed his venerable leader, making sure to keep a few paces back as to avoid being the victim of her visible rage.

Pakun sniffed again. "We're closing in on them. They seem to be moving slowly, perhaps one of them is injured."

Kakashi nodded. "Most likely Sasuke. I can't imagine Naruto sustaining injuries of that magnitude without getting in some licks of his own."

He could feel the anger rise in Tsunade. Her words were spoken with an immense malice.

"I'm going to punch that snake's head off!"

* * *

Kabuto's eyes widened in surprise, then settled once more as his confident smile returned.

"It appears we're being followed, Lord Orochimaru," he said calmly.

The pale ninja chuckled. "Yes, it appears so. Tsunade and Kakashi, if I'm not mistaken. Quite an interesting coupling, they'll be impossible to shake."

"Shall we engage them?" Kabuto asked.

Orochimaru's grin widened in anticipation. "I'll take care of it. I'd like to put my new body to the test," he said with his sick, fanged smile. "Continue toward our base and, don't stop for anything. I should catch up to you before you reach the border."

The gray-haired spy nodded and said, "of course, my lord."

On the next branch they reached, Kabuto continued onward while Orochimaru landed and rebounded in the opposite direction, excited to see his former teammate and her pet.

* * *

Kakashi and Tsunade suddenly halted on sidelong branches, causing Pakun to almost miss a step and fall to the forest floor. He was confused and looked at his summoner inquisitively.

Tsunade's scowl deepened. "Orochimaru."

Pakun followed her gaze to the snake sannin standing calmly on a branch several feet in front of them, meeting Tsunade's eyes with a smile. ' _What? How?_ ' the clothed pup asked internally. ' _How did he get to us without me noticing? He's completely shut off his scent, I don't understand._ '

Kakashi crouched down and braced himself with a hand on the branch, his opposite arm extended behind him in preparation for attack or defense. "You should go, Pakun. Thank you for your help." The dog looked at him, considering a protest, but knew he'd be no help in this confrontation. Nodding once, he vanished. "Where's Sasuke?" the masked jōnin asked of the dangerous presence before him.

Orochimaru chuckled. "He's long gone, I'm afraid," he said whimsically, gently brushing black locks from his eyes. "Kabuto has taken him far from here. You'll never catch them, not with me in your way."

Kakashi knew he was right. He had no doubt about the Hokage's strength, but he feared Orochimaru was not only strong enough to delay them and destroy any chance of them finding Sasuke, but perhaps even strong enough to defeat them both.

He _was_ the genius of the three sannin, after all.

Tsunade's anger was now producing an aura of immense proportions that could be felt by both men in her midst. "You've taken so much from so many," she growled in a low tone, her form visibly shaking. "There was a time when I tried to forget all you'd taken. I tried to bury it and pretend I didn't care." Her fist clenched with a force that allowed Kakashi to hear it. "Then you tried to take that boy away from me."

Orochimaru's grin widened. "What _ever_ do you mean, Tsunade?" he asked sarcastically. "I did no such thing. I simply took what I needed, and the beast meddled where he didn't belong." He let out a satisfied laugh at Tsunade's growing anger. "Besides, why does that boy matter to you?" The pale man put a mocking finger to his chin and dawned a faux pondering expression. "Could it be the striking resemblance to your precious little brother whom you lost all those years ago?"

Tsunade bit her lower lip hard, drawing blood.

The Sound ninja laughed once again. "Yes, that must be it. It's certainly not the qualities he shares with that oaf, Jiraiya, that makes you care for him." He dropped his arm back to his side and placed his hand on his hip. "At any rate, I let him live, so what are you complaining about?"

Without warning, Tsunade leapt from her branch and flew at her once-teammate, a chakra-infused fist raised and aimed at his head.

"I'm gonna kill you, you slithering bastard!"

Shizune followed behind the two ninja carrying the orange-clad boy on a stretcher, with the remaining two trailing close behind her. She'd kept her eyes on him most of the way, attempting to assess his situation. He hadn't even twitched.

' _Naruto…_ '

They continued their path to the Leaf in silence.

Orochimaru jumped to avoid Tsunade's devastating blow, landing on a branch above as the one he was previously perched on shattered beneath her fist.

Kakashi clapped his hands together, fingers intertwined.

 _Snake_

He shot his hands forward, extending his fingers toward his target.

" **Lightning Style: Lightning Fang**!"

A dense bolt of electricity sprang from his exposed fingertips and chased Orochimaru. The sannin responded with a deep breath.

' _ **Wind Style: Immense Breakthrough**_ _,_ ' he thought, then forced a shockwave of air through his mouth. When it collided with Kakashi's jutsu, it shattered the bolt into unfocused sparks that soon dissipated.

Tsunade ran up the trunk of the tree to Orochimaru's position then pushed off toward him, aiming a kick at his head. He raised an arm to block, but the slug sannin's follow-through sent him flying. After a few seconds air-born, he skipped across the dirt four times before finally coming to a stop face-down.

Kakashi made the clone sign.

" **Shadow Clone Jutsu**!"

Another Kakashi appeared as they attempted a pincer move on their opponent, the clone approaching from the left and the original from the right. Meeting in the middle, they found Orochimaru back to his feet and ready to receive them. The original pulled a kunai and thrusted it forward with his right hand, which was blocked easily. The clone swept at the legs, but he jumped to avoid it. Landing, Orochimaru put the sole of his sandal to the side of the still-crouching clone's head, sending him back a few feet.

Taking the opportunity, the original copy ninja aimed a spinning left kick to Orochimaru's head. He ducked to dodge, but Kakashi twisted, and his right leg was following in a roundhouse motion. With no time to evade, he blocked, giving the original the opening he needed to land a straight kick to the face with his left foot.

Seemingly unfazed, Orochimaru circled into a spinning back fist that connected with Kakashi's jaw and sent him into a nearby tree. He shot his left arm out.

" **Striking Shadow Snakes**!" Dozens of summoned pythons erupted from his sleeve and wrapped around both the original Kakashi and the tree, binding him to the trunk. Turning his head, Orochimaru opened his mouth in a dry heaving motion as a snake left his throat. The snake's jaws opened soon after, and the Sword of Kusanagi extended forth and pierced the chest of the clone Kakashi, dispelling him in a puff of smoke.

Sheathing the sword and snake back inside his body, Orochimaru dropped to a prone position just in time to keep his head as Tsunade's fist passed overhead. His snakes still holding the white-haired jōnin, Orochimaru rolled quickly behind the tree to which he was tied and appeared on the other side. Extending his free right hand, he yelled, " **Striking Shadow Snakes**!"

More serpents exploded from within him and targeted the Hokage, but she sidestepped them and grabbed all of them in one hand, a vice grip just beneath their heads. Yanking hard, she forced Orochimaru toward her. As he left his feet, so did his smile leave his face, as the snakes restraining Kakashi were separated from him and thus supplied the give he needed to free himself. Once the snake-summoner was within range, Tsunade buried her viper-filled fist in his face and drove his head into the ground in front of her.

Just when it seemed her fist would bore a hole through his skull, Orochimaru's body dissolved into hundreds of tiny snakes that all slithered in different directions.

"Damn it!" Tsunade yelled, pulling her fist from the four-inch crevice she'd made in the ground. "The coward was always better at running than fighting."

She and Kakashi both knew her confidence was mostly false. Orochimaru was a dangerous man, even for the likes of Tsunade the Slug Sannin and Kakashi of the Sharingan Eye.

Suddenly, the ground between them broke, and the pale ninja sprang upward, extending both legs in a split and connecting a kick to the heads of both his opponents, sending them in opposite directions.

Tsunade and Kakashi recovered, landing on one knee and sliding back multiple feet. Without missing a beat, Orochimaru widened his stance, steadying himself.

' _ **Sound Wave Jutsu**_ _,_ ' he mentally sang, forcing sonic shockwaves from his body in every direction. Tsunade braced herself and took the hit head-on and unblinkingly, but Kakashi knew his limits, and knew they were less than hers, so he took shelter behind a tree, covering his ears with his hands.

When the shockwaves passed, Tsunade took a step toward her former comrade confidently, intent on making the next move, but instead began reeling from the sudden ringing in her ears, falling to her knees. She couldn't hear anything, and worse than that, she could barely keep her balance.

To her, the ground beneath her was rotating at a rapid pace.

Another sadistic chuckle escaped Orochimaru's lips. "Everyone always mocked Jiraiya for his hotheadedness. They weren't wrong, of course, but I must say, he pales in comparison to you, Tsunade. You never fail to lose your composure when emotions are involved."

She couldn't hear him, obviously. Her eardrums were shattered, apparent by the blood that had begun to flow down both sides of her face.

Orochimaru continued. "You were able to hold up externally, but sonic attacks are always more damaging to the internal workings of the human body. Honestly, not knowing that, and as a master medical ninja no less, it's pathetic." His smile widened before he looked up, opening his mouth. The snake from before emerged again, and in turn repeated the process of regurgitating the Kusanagi blade, this time pommel-first. Orochimaru grabbed it, unsheathing the sword in its entirety and then settling back to his humored expression, the snake having retreated again.

 _Ox – Rabbit – Monkey_

" **Lightning Blade**!" Kakashi said as he aimed his most deadly jutsu at the spine of the former Leaf ninja. Orochimaru scowled, his confident shell momentarily slipping and then realigning as he donned his smile once again. He ducked, Kakashi's attack going directly over him, then slithered back and stood behind his prey, landing a kick to his lower back. The impact was sudden and severe, sending Kakashi forward and colliding into a tree.

Deciding not to waste any more time toying with them, Orochimaru quickly covered the short distance between himself and Tsunade. He lifted his right arm and brought it down with conviction, impaling her through the back with the Kusanagi and burying it into the ground on the other side.

Tsunade's eyes shot wide open as blood sprayed from her throat.

* * *

Shizune was lost in thought over her worry for Naruto, causing her to nearly knock the medical ninja in front of her off his branch when he suddenly stopped without warning.

"What's going on?" she asked, exasperated, wondering what could possibly be stopping them from getting the boy home.

"Apologies, Lady Shizune," one medical ninja said, "we've encountered Shikamaru and Lady Temari."

Looking down, Shizune could see the lazy chūnin and sand kunoichi standing side-by-side on the ground, accompanied by two additional medical ninja, amongst a plethora of scarred boulders and fallen trees.

Shikamaru heard the conversation and glanced up. "Lady Shizune?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

She could tell he was both exhausted and stressed.

Shizune dropped from the branch and landed next to her comrades. "Apologies, Shikamaru, Lady Temari, I don't have time to talk. Naruto is in critical condition, we need to get him to the village hospital as soon as possible."

"What?" he inquired again in that usual 'this is such a drag' tone. Just then, the two men carrying Naruto touched down next to their interim squad leader. "What the hell? Naruto, are you okay?" When the boy didn't stir, Shikamaru dawned a dreadful expression.

' _Another comrade you failed, dumbass,_ ' he thought to himself. ' _Why can't you do anything right?_ '

Noticing his struggle, Temari interfered. "We're sorry to keep you, Lady Shizune. Please, allow us to accompany you back to the village."

Grateful for her cooperation, Shizune nodded, and all ten of those present once again began making their way home.

* * *

"Lady Tsunade!"

Kakashi was on his hands and knees, still shaking off his face-first impact with the tree. His one trembling eye was focused on his leader, skewered on Orochimaru's blade, seemingly lifeless as she bled into the grass.

The man behind the stabbing started laughing. "Oh, poor Kakashi," he mewed mockingly, "what's wrong? Are you dreading your fate now that your guardian is incapacitated?"

Kakashi was no fool. He was aware that if he didn't escape, he'd most likely die by Orochimaru's hand. Despite that, there was no way he was leaving Tsunade to bleed to death. She was his Hokage, and he was sworn to protect her, at the cost of his life if need be.

Standing shakily, the copy ninja sighed in that way he does. Reaching up to his face with his left hand, he pulled his Leaf headband up, revealing his scarred eye, blood-red and hypnotic as it was.

"Hm, how interesting," Orochimaru hissed. "I'll admit, I haven't fared well against the Sharingan in the past. Of course, that was Itachi." Kakashi's gaze hardened at what his foe was implying. "We both know you're no Itachi."

"Underestimating your opponent will get you killed," the hound-master barked. He knew damn well he was no match for this man, but confidence is key. If he gave in to the thought that he had no chance, even for a moment, the fight was lost.

Thirty seconds of strangling silence.

 _Snake – Ram – Monkey – Boar – Horse – Tiger_

" **Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu**!"

Holding the _Tiger_ seal beneath his lips, Kakashi exhaled and forced a blaze of red flames from his mouth, aiming them over Tsunade's prone form. Orochimaru pounced vertically and flipped over the apex of the fire jutsu, landing nimbly and making a break toward Kakashi. He stopped immediately in front of him, ducking a gloved fist, then dodging another. Avoiding yet another jab, Orochimaru dropped and took Kakashi's right leg out from under him with a sweep.

Transitioning into a back handspring, Kakashi planted both feet into the trunk of the tree he'd previously been thrown into, then pushed off, rocketing toward Orochimaru. The sannin readied himself, but lost his composure when Kakashi flew past him.

The masked ninja hit another tree, then bounced off. Once again, he missed Orochimaru, and once more he ricocheted off another tree. He repeated the process three more times.

The snake-like man noticed too late what was happening, as Kakashi landed behind him and yanked his head back, forcing the utility wire he held in his teeth through the mask to constrict, binding Orochimaru to the first tree from which his enemy leapt.

 _Snake – Dragon – Rabbit – Tiger_

" **Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu**!"

A napalm-like stream of fire traveled the wire from his mouth to the tree, engulfing it and the man tied to it in searing flames.

No screams.

No sounds at all, aside from the fire.

An audible _pop_ and a cloud of white smoke.

' _Son of a-_ ' Kakashi was cut off by the lace of a sandal connecting with the right side of his head, the man attached to the sandal in mid-air behind him, his serpentine tongue slithering from side-to-side in satisfaction.

Finishing the kick, Kakashi was sent flying at a tremendous speed through the forest, collapsing multiple small trees on the way. Finally colliding with one that didn't give, he slid to the base, his back flat on the ground and his head supported by the roots of the tree.

Orochimaru appeared above him, then bent down, grabbing Kakashi by the collar of his vest and lifting him slightly.

"Did you really suspect to have a chance, Kakashi?" he asked condescendingly. "You're good, child, don't get me wrong, but I'm afraid your battle experience pales in comparison to mine." Dropping him abruptly against the bottom of the tree, Orochimaru straightened himself. "Though I have to say, even this is somewhat disappointing. For years, I've heard nothing but praise for the great _Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan Eye_. I was excited to experience, first-hand, just how much you've progressed since I left the village."

He scoffed, his smile widening once more. "You let me down, Kakashi."

The inured jōnin let out a weak laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" Orochimaru asked impatiently, his smile dissipating.

Kakashi took a deep, shaky breath. "I would never actually hope to beat you, Orochimaru. I did my job."

The sannin clenched his teeth. What was he getting at? He didn't like being played with. "What are you talking about?" he hissed.

Kakashi took another deep breath. "I kept you busy."

 _Tiger_

" **Ninja Art: Mitotic Regeneration.** "

* * *

Sakura stood at the main gate of the village, hoping to get the news she'd been anticipating for two days now. She'd seen groups of medical ninja return with both Choji and Neji, and they were in bad shape, but she had confidence Naruto could keep his promise nonetheless.

Her heartrate picked up when she saw multiple figures appear on the horizon.

' _Naruto…_ '

After a long, painful few minutes, the figures jogged into view, well enough for Sakura to tell who they were.

Six medical ninja, Lady Shizune, Shikamaru, that Temari girl from the Sand Village, and someone on a stretcher.

' _Oh no… I hope Kiba didn't get hurt as well…_ ' she thought.

Suddenly, an orange-sleeved arm fell from the stretcher.

Sakura's eyes became wide and glossy.

Shizune made it to the gate, running past the pink-haired kunoichi without acknowledging her. Taking their cue to do the same, the medical ninja ran by as well, allowing Sakura a mere passing glance at her wounded teammate before he was being rushed in the opposite direction.

Shikamaru stopped in front of his fellow Leaf shinobi, prompting Temari to do the same. He looked down and away nervously, a hand rubbing the back of his head.

"Shikamaru…" Sakura said softly, her gaze downcast, her eyes hidden by her short locks. "Shikamaru… what happened?"

The following minute of silence was suffocating. Biting his lip, Shikamaru decided he had to say something.

"I'm…" he hesitated. "I'm sorry, Sakura. Our mission was a failure."

Her expression didn't change. It didn't have to. The single tear that rolled down her cheek and fell to the dirt pathway was enough to convey the pain she was feeling.

"I'm so sorry…" the lazy chūnin said again.

Sakura choked back a sob. "It's not your fault, Shikamaru."

He closed his eyes. "Sakura, I-"

"It's not Naruto's fault either," she interrupted him. Another moment of silence followed. "If you'd both please excuse me, I'd like to go check on Naruto." Without waiting for a response, the young ninja turned and ran in the direction of the hospital. Despite her back being to them, they could still tell that she was frantically rubbing tears from her eyes.

Shikamaru sighed in disappointment with himself.

' _Damn it._ '

* * *

Orochimaru's expression morphed into one of shock. Spinning on his heels, his face met a bare fist that threatened to force his skeleton from his body. Tsunade continued her strike and threw the spiraling snake sannin several hundred meters.

Taking deep breaths, Tsunade kept her arm extended for several moments, her fist almost smoking from the impact it made with Orochimaru's nose. Kakashi looked up at her in amazement.

He'd heard stories about the Hokage's incredible secret regenerative jutsu, but to see it in person was an entirely different story. Intricate markings now covered her face, and steam rose from her closing wounds as her long-stored chakra healed them. He could even tell that her physical strength had increased exponentially.

"Lady Tsunade…" he grunted pathetically.

Tsunade looked down at one of her greatest soldiers. The state he was in worried her. Going down to one knee to his right, she put her left hand below his neck and her right hand over his diaphragm and began using her medical ninjutsu on the most obviously injured areas of his body.

"Kakashi," she said, a frustrated grimace on her face, "I'm so sorry."

He chuckled weakly. "Don't apologize to me, Lady Hokage. This is my duty, to do my utmost for my village, and f- for my Hokage."

Tsunade attempted a small laugh. "Luckily, you didn't receive any fatal injuries, but you're done in this fight." Noticing him about to protest, she continued. "Don't argue with me, Hatake. You've done enough. I know you're strong, I wouldn't have ordered you to my side if you weren't, but just the idle use of your Sharingan on top of the wounds you've sustained, you'd be more of a hindrance than a help."

Knowing she was right, he begrudgingly conceded, shakily pulling his headband back over his gifted eye. "Yes, Lady Hokage."

 _Wheeze._

 _Chuckle._

 _Wheeze._

The slug sannin turned to see Orochimaru bracing himself against a tree. Half of his face was gone, revealing another face underneath that didn't belong to him.

"Tsunade, you meddling wretch," he hissed, his sadistic smile wider than ever. "I'm going to bleed you dry and use your body as a rug."

The venerable kunoichi slowly rose, shooting one last reassuring glance to Kakashi before resting a murderous gaze on Orochimaru.

She feigned beginning to speak, then without warning closed the gap between her and her former friend, beginning a barrage of strikes.

 _Right hook._

 _Left hook._

 _Right hook._

 _Left thrust kick._

 _Right back kick._

 _Left downward punch._

 _Full circle spin, left downward punch again._

Orochimaru was driven face-first into the ground, cracking the earth. When he bounced from the impact, Tsunade grabbed him by the back of the neck, lifting him back to a standing position and continuing her attack.

 _Right jab._

 _Pulled back._

 _Right jab again._

 _Pulled back._

 _Headbutt._

 _Jumping knee._

 _Right uppercut._

Orochimaru left his feet, becoming horizontal with the ground. Tsunade took the opportunity, moving to his side and landing a chakra-infused blow to his gut, driving him back into the ground once more.

Tsunade kept her fist in his sternum, driving and twisting it further, forcing more groans and gasps from his mouth and deepening the Orochimaru-sized crater beneath him.

Satisfied with her work, Tsunade stood carefully and unsteadily, attempting to keep her balance, a confident smile returning to her face. Turning, she dizzily made her way back to Kakashi's prone form. Standing above him, she opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by a slicing sound, causing her eyes to go wide.

Kakashi looked on in terror as Orochimaru held himself on one knee a good distance away from Tsunade, opposite the side he'd been laying in the crater. He was in horrible shape, his breathing ragged, his right arm clutching his obviously demolished ribcage. The terrifying detail was that he held the Kusanagi blade in a reverse grip his outstretched left hand.

A deep, cleaving wound appeared on Tsunade's midsection, from hip to navel, through her entire abdomen and back.

"Lady Hokage!" Kakashi yelled, forcing himself to a sitting position to catch her as she fell, holding her over his legs as she bled into his lap.

Not wanting to wait for either of them to recover, Orochimaru disappeared in a twist of flames.

"No, damn it!" The white-haired man forced his leader to her back and got to his knees, allowing him to check her vitals. "You're alive, thank you, _thank you_." With a hearty groan, he stood and pulled her over his left shoulder. "I'm going to get you help, hold on, Lady Hokage."

With this, Kakashi, began his shaky and pained journey back to the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

* * *

 **Feel free to leave a review, and please make sure to follow/favorite my page and this story to receive updates whenever I post knew content. Any support is greatly appreciated!**


	2. A Hawk's Opportunity

**WARNING: This story is rated 'M' for a reason. It includes excessive profanity and violent fight scenes. Do** _ **not**_ **proceed if you plan on criticizing its adult themes. They are an integral part of my writing style, and I will not abandon them for a more consistent audience.**

* * *

 **A Hawk's Opportunity**

 _A roaring fire._

' _W- what?_ '

 _A boiling red energy._

' _N-… no…_ '

 _A blinding white light._

" _Sasuke_!"

Naruto sat up – far too quickly – in his hospital bed, a sheen of sweat covering his entire body, a severe pain running throughout his limbs. His ribs were sore. His skin burned. His teeth ached.

Soft hands were placed on his left shoulder and bare chest.

"Naruto, please! You must lie down! You've woken up way too soon!" Shizune was attempting to subdue the panicking boy. His chest was heaving violently, and his pupils were dilated; indicative of an anxiety attack.

After several moments of struggling with the thrashing genin, he finally lost his fight, giving Shizune the opportunity to force him down. Holding both of his shoulders, she stared directly into his captivatingly blue eyes.

"Naruto, listen to me!" she said firmly, successfully obtaining his attention. "You're okay, you're safe, I promise! Nothing is going to happen to you!"

He looked confused for a moment, then shook it off. "I don't care, where's Sasuke?"

Shizune was taken aback, but then seemed sad. "Sasuke is gone, Naruto. Don't you remember?"

The look on his face broke her heart.

"What?" he asked. "I… I failed?" When she just avoided his glare, he knew. "No… no, I promised Sakura, I _have_ to get Sasuke back, he _belongs_ here!" Removing the sheet from over him, Naruto forced himself to stand.

"Naruto, please, you need to rest!" Shizune pleaded with him. Ignoring her, he took a step toward the door but immediately stumbled, falling to the linoleum floor. "Naruto!" The jōnin rushed to his side, hooking his right arm and helping him, first to his feet, then to his bed. "I _told_ you, you aren't ready to be out of bed yet! You weren't even supposed to wake up for another four days!"

A defeated expression dawned on his golden face, but it dissipated almost immediately.

"What about my team? Where are Bushy Brow and the others?" he asked impatiently.

Shizune sighed, hoping the blinding questions would cease soon enough. "Neji and Choji had severe injuries, but it's looking like everyone will be okay."

The child finally settled down. "Thank goodness," he breathed out.

"I'm begging you, don't leave this bed until Lady Tsunade returns to check on you."

"Where is Granny, by the way? I'm surprised she wasn't waiting for me to wake up so she could chew me out for failing my mission."

Shizune looked obviously worried. "The Hokage, along with Kakashi-san, pursued Orochimaru and Sasuke after sending me with the squad that brought you back to the village."

' _Orochimaru,_ ' the boy thought with a growl. "Orochimaru was here?" he asked, anger and disgust imminent in his tone.

"Our current intelligence is that he retrieved Sasuke personally shortly after your battle with him," she said hesitantly, knowing the effect it would have on the aspiring ninja.

Shizune could hear his teeth grinding together.

"I'm gonna kill him," he said under his breath. "I _swear_ , when I get out of this hospital bed, I'm gonna find that snake, and I'm gonna kill him!"

* * *

Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane usually sat leisurely at their post guarding the front gate of the village; after all, not much of import took place directly at the front entrance.

Today, however, they were on high alert, having seen the Hokage leave the village some time ago, with no plans to do so beforehand. Not to mention Sasuke Uchiha left the Leaf's border early the previous morning, and a team of his comrades had been sent to retrieve him not long afterward.

Due to their unusual vigilance, they noticed the two silhouettes on the horizon long before they showed any defining characteristics.

"Kotetsu," Izumo said, getting his friend's attention.

"I see them," the wild-haired man replied, implying Izumo already had his attention.

Izumo squinted, trying to make out the pair. He gasped. "They're limping, 'Tetsu! I'm gonna meet them and see if I can help. Stay here in case it's a trap, and call for medical aid." At the nod of his fellow chūnin, Izumo began to make his way to the couple.

Once he was closer, he dawned a shocked expression.

"Lady Hokage!"

He found Kakashi, in bad shape himself, supporting an unconscious and bleeding Tsunade, limping slowly toward the village.

"Kakashi-san, let me help you!" he said, then went to the Hokage's opposite side, pulling her left arm over his shoulder.

Kakashi sighed, the lightened load an obvious relief. "Thank you, Izumo," he said in an exhausted tone. "We need to get her help. Her jutsu has saved her life, but she's entirely out of chakra."

"Of course," the young man replied, and they made their way to the village.

Once within a few meters of the front gate, they were met by Kotetsu. "Oh my god," he said, noticing his leader's wounds. "Please, allow me." With a nod from his white-haired superior, Kotetsu pulled Tsunade's right arm from over Kakashi's shoulders and placed it on his own. "We'll get her to the hospital, follow at your own pace, sir!"

With another nod from the scarecrow, the two middling soldiers made their way toward the hospital to get their commander the care she needed.

Once out of sight, Kakashi hunched over, bracing himself on his knees and coughing violently, allowing himself to show the state he was truly in.

' _I'm lucky to have survived,_ ' he thought to himself. He was shaken from his thoughts by three medical ninja appearing in front of him.

Their squad leader spoke. "Sir, we were sent for by the men posted at this gate, is everything alright?"

Kakashi stood shakily, clutching his ribs. "Izumo and Kotetsu took Lady Tsunade to the hospital. She's in critical condition. Meet them there and offer any help you can."

The leader spoke once more. "Being the senior medical shinobi on call today, I'll go help the Hokage. Please, allow my men to help you there yourself and give you what aid they can on the way."

At another nod of confirmation from Kakashi, the head medic disappeared. The two remaining ninja gestured toward him, silently asking for his consent. With no visible resistance, they supplied support on either side of the masked jōnin and began leading him to the hospital where his comrades were waiting for him.

* * *

Naruto turned his head when he heard the door to his hospital room open. He felt a mixture of emotions when his pink-haired teammate entered, the most dominant being dread as he noticed the swollen redness of her eyes.

She'd managed to keep her remaining tears at bay with excessive eye-rubbing, but the dam broke when she saw her yellow-haired friend bound from head-to-toe in bandages. She fell to her knees in the doorway, sobbing into the bend of her left arm.

Naruto was heartbroken. Slowly, achingly, he pulled his sheets back and got out of bed. Carefully making his way to the constant source of his affections, he winced as he lowered himself to one knee. Gently taking the kunoichi's right hand in both of his, she looked into his eyes, and he spoke.

"Sakura…" he started hoarsely, "Sakura, I'm so sorry. I let you down, I failed you, and Sasuke, and Kakashi-sensei, and the whole vill-" he was cut off by Sakura's arms wrapping tightly around his neck, forcing his eyes wide.

"Shut up, you knucklehead," she cried into his shoulder. Slowly bringing his arms to embrace his friend's midsection, Naruto let his emotions wash over him, and he wept.

 _They_ wept.

Together.

* * *

Kabuto stopped short on a branch and crouched, Sasuke still clinging to his back. A swirl of leaves appeared above a tree limb a few meters ahead of him. When they fell away, Orochimaru was perched in a kneeling position. He swayed twice, then fell forward all the way to the ground, landing on his front.

"Lord Orochimaru!" Kabuto yelled, dropping from his branch and landing next to his master. Setting Sasuke to his side, he rolled the fallen sannin to his back and began checking his vitals. While probing his neck, Kabuto's wrist was grabbed by a pale hand.

"I'm fine, Kabuto," Orochimaru said in a gravelly voice, his exhaustion apparent. "I just need to get home. Help me to my feet." The white-haired ninja did as he was told, aiding his leader by his elbow. When he was standing, Orochimaru looked at Sasuke, who was sitting on the forest floor looking up at him.

"Can you walk, child?" he asked.

Sasuke stood easily and tensed his muscles, testing them. "Yeah," he said coolly.

Orochimaru nodded. He beckoned Kabuto to help him. "Let's go, we need to cross the border before a squad is sent after us." At the order, Kabuto draped the snake-master's arm over his shoulders, and the trio made their way in the direction of the Land of Rice Paddies, home to the Village Hidden in the Sound.

* * *

Kakashi sat on a long bench in a hallway of the Konoha hospital, just outside of the main operating room. His head and back were leaned against the wall behind him, and his jōnin jacket rested on the seat to his left. He was holding his blue shirt above his abdomen with his left hand as a medical ninja bandaged wounds on his torso. His neck, right thigh, and right shoulder had already been tended to.

As his thoughts drifted to the battle he'd participated in earlier that day, the double doors to the operating room opened slowly with a long squeak and Shizune walked through, removing a surgical mask as she wiped her brow of sweat. Kakashi waved off the medical ninja with a thankful nod and met her in the middle of the hallway.

"How is she?" he asked, uncharacteristically timidly.

Shizune took a deep breath, her eyes closed. "They were able to stabilize her condition. She'll live." Kakashi let out a relieved sigh at this, but the medical jōnin opened her eyes and continued. "Unfortunately, her internal damage was extensive. She drained all her One Hundred Healings chakra, along with her own reserves, to heal it all; despite that, there was still immense hemorrhaging, especially beneath the near-fatal wound she sustained in her ribs, and that blow nearly severed her spine. The process of not only restoring her missing chakra to keep her alive, but also regenerating the still-deteriorated cells from the fight, put an enormous strain on her body and caused her to go into shock."

She slowly looked up into the man's eye, which had widened considerable throughout her explanation. "The Hokage fell into a coma during one of their procedures. It's unknown when, or if, she'll awaken."

Kakashi closed his eyes, an invisible scowl forming beneath his mask. He clenched both fists, ignoring the pain that tensing his muscles caused his mummified right shoulder.

" _Damn it._ "

* * *

Sakura tried her best to dissuade her yellow-crested comrade from walking around so soon after waking up. He needed his rest, and he wouldn't be getting it by pushing himself to get around when he just left his bed.

Her efforts were unsuccessful.

"Thanks for offering to help me get around, Sakura," the boy said red-faced, his ever-bright smile visible as usual. His left arm was draped across her shoulders, so he could take some of the pressure off his sore frame. Sakura's left hand held his hanging wrist, while her right arm was wrapped around his back to help support his weight, though she'd forced him to put on a shirt before she'd help him.

Nonetheless, Naruto was having a great day.

She rolled her eyes and scoffed, a playfully irritated smirk on her face. "Shut up, Naruto," she said, forcing a giggle from him.

They'd been walking for a few minutes. Naruto didn't really have a set destination, he just wanted to stretch his legs and see something other than the inside of his hospital room. Sakura felt she owed him the assistance after he put his life on the line for her selfish request.

' _Naruto, please… please bring Sasuke back to me._ '

She wanted to slap herself just thinking about that. What was wrong with her? Practically begging Naruto to risk his life for her own benefit. On what planet did she think it was reasonable to blatantly favor Sasuke's safe return over Naruto's?

She was disgusted with herself.

She contemplated bringing it up to him, but when they turned the corner at the end of the hallway they were walking down, Naruto perked up.

"Kakashi-sensei!" he yelled, prompting his teacher to turn to them, revealing Shizune standing on the other side of him.

' _Oh no,_ ' the weathered jōnin thought to himself, attempting to erase the gloomy expression from the visible quarter of his face. "Naruto, you're awake. How is that possible?" he asked rhetorically, knowing full well the reason he'd recovered so quickly.

The young ninja straightened, dawning a wide smile and scratching the back of his head. "Ah, you know me, sensei! Nothin' can keep me down!" he yelled confidently.

The three other ninja in attendance let small grins appear. It was comforting to see Naruto so happy and sure that everything was going to be okay. He had that effect on people.

Returning his head-scratching arm to his side, Naruto looked around. " _So_ … where's Granny, Kakashi-sensei?"

The Sharingan-user in question tensed, letting out a tired sigh after a moment. Once Naruto started looking confused at his silence, Kakashi knew he had to say something.

"Uh, Naruto," he started awkwardly, "the Hokage just finished in the operating room."

"Oh," he responded, "who was she operating on?"

Another sigh left the scarecrow's lips. "No, she wasn't operating on anyone, she was being operated _on_."

Naruto's eyes went wide as he pulled his arm from around Sakura's shoulders, attempting to steady himself on his own two feet. "W-… what? What happened?" he asked nervously. He made a scowl in realization. "Did that snake, Orochimaru, do something to Granny Tsunade?" he growled.

Kakashi took a cue from his student, scratching the back of his own head with his left hand. "Yes, Lady Hokage was injured in our fight with Orochimaru."

Naruto wasn't an exceedingly smart kid. He knew it. It didn't take everyone constantly pointing it out to him for him to know it either. He knew strategy and general intelligence wasn't exactly his strong suit.

Despite this unfortunate fact, Naruto had no issue noticing the blanket of dread that fell on the faces of Kakashi and Shizune when he spoke.

He had a bad feeling.

Doing his best to mask his emotion – the way all shinobi are taught to do – Kakashi hardened himself. "The Hokage is in a coma, Naruto."

Blue pools became oceans as Naruto's eyes nearly exited his head from his lids separating so drastically.

"What do you mean?" he said softly, hoping he'd heard incorrectly.

"It's true, Naruto," Shizune said, her gaze downcast. "We have no idea when she'll wake up, if at all."

Tears began to well in the eyes of Sakura, who to this point had been listening patiently. ' _Sasuke is with a man who could injure the Hokage so severely?_ ' she thought to herself. It was a stupid question to ask, honestly. After all, Orochimaru was the man who pushed the Third to his limits, forcing him to sacrifice himself to protect the village. ' _Sasuke… what have you gotten into?_ '

Naruto, on the other hand, had no tears. He wasn't sad. He had no doubt in his mind that Granny Tsunade would pull through, he wasn't worried at all. No, he wasn't sad.

He was _pissed_.

" _Orochimaru_ ," he spat through clenched teeth, the grinding of which could be heard by his comrades. He turned away from them and took a few steps, then stopped. He was shaking, evident from the ripples being made in his black t-shirt. Turning sharply to the left, he landed a punch to the wall with his right hand, cratering the plaster around his fist and startling his pink-haired teammate. Shizune winced, and Kakashi had seen it coming. "Don't worry, Granny."

Turning back to continue walking away from his fellow shinobi, he growled.

"I'm gonna bring a piece of him back to you one day."

He turned the corner, leaving them in silence.

* * *

Naruto had been walking aimlessly among the maze of halls in the hospital, with no explicit destination in mind. He just needed space to think.

' _Orochimaru,_ ' he thought. ' _Why is he always wrapped up in everything bad that happens? Why is it that every time someone I care about is hurt, it's his fault?_ ' His entire body had clenched throughout his musings. He wanted so badly to run and find Orochimaru… to kick down his door and rip his creepy head off his shoulders.

' _That bastard._ '

Turning what seemed to be the hundredth corner, he noticed a ninja standing in the middle of the hallway. He wore a regulation chūnin jacket with his Leaf shinobi headband pinned to his left bicep, and his hair was pulled back in a pineapple-shaped bun.

His head was lowered, and he was noticeably trembling.

Walking closer to the boy's form, Naruto spoke. "Shikamaru, what's up?" he said, prompting him to quickly rub his eyes with his forearm before turning.

"Oh, Naruto, what are you doing up?" he asked, oddly surprised, and somewhat… _relieved_?

Stopping in front of the young genius, Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I dunno, guess I'm super awesome or somethin'," he boasted with a strained smile. His chuckles were cut off by firm hands being placed on his shoulders. Opening his eyes, he saw the top of Shikamaru's head facing him, tears falling from the face pointed at the floor.

"I'm so sorry, Naruto," he said genuinely. Naruto dawned a confused expression.

"Uh, what do you mean, Shikamaru? Why are you sorry?"

The boy sniffled. "I was your commander, and I failed you," he said. "I failed all of you."

The blond was still confused, but put on a confident smile. "What the hell are you talking about, Shikamaru?" he asked through a smile, causing his superior to look up to his face. "You're the only reason we all got back safe and sound! You wouldn't have let us all fight who we did if you weren't sure we could do it, and you were right, like always!"

Shikamaru's eyes were like saucers, tears still falling from his chin.

"I gotta say, Shikamaru, at first I wasn't behind the whole 'listening to you' thing, but you really brought me around! You're a great leader, I don't think it could have gone any better with anyone else!"

Shikamaru stared blankly and baffled at his blue-eyed colleague, a bright smile looking back to him.

Naruto's air was cut off by a surprisingly firm embrace. It ended as quickly as it came.

"I'm glad you're okay, Naruto," Shikamaru said through a puffy, tear-stained face.

Rebounding from his shock, Naruto's smile returned. "I'm glad you are, too, Shikamaru."

The young chūnin turned and made his way back to the bench Temari was seated at, taking his place next to her.

Naruto turned and continued his aimless wandering around the hospital's sterile pathways, leaving the brilliant young ninja with his thoughts and a certain sandy-haired kunoichi.

* * *

' _This room is so suffocating. Not because it's so small and dark, but because of all the stuffy assholes I'm crammed in here with._ '

Shikaku Nara let out a small chuckle at the thought, drawing a glare from Danzō Shimura, who was placed three seats to his right.

Shikaku never liked, let alone trusted, that old war hawk. He pushed back against any decision Lord Third ever made, and the scarred jōnin had the suspicion it was mostly because of _who_ was making the decisions, and not just what the decisions were.

After a long period of silence, the late Hiruzen's former teammate, and one of the three trusted elders of the village, Homura Mitokado, spoke in his usual booming tone. "Now, regarding Sasuke Uchiha. We intend to continue pursuing him and the rogue ninja, Orochimaru, with assistance from all our allies."

"With everything that's happened to your village," said a noble advisor to the Feudal Lord sitting directly across the aging shinobi, "those of us from the Land of Fire shall provide full support in your pursuit efforts. We cannot afford to lose the last of a once-great clan, not to mention our only remaining source of an inherited Sharingan." At a grateful nod from Homura, he continued. "First, we'll put together a budget, then we'll form numerous squads of capable shinobi who can aid in-"

"More importantly," Danzō interrupted, "there is a more pressing matter at hand. I speak of the selection of the new Hokage."

' _Here it comes,_ ' Shikaku thought, ' _I knew it._ '

The Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire, seated at the head of the table, a fan lightly brushing air across his pampered face, chose now to make his meek voice heard. "Would it not be possible for us to simply bide our time until Tsunade recovers?" he asked, no trace of confidence among so many intimidating figures.

Koharu Utatane, the third former member of the Third's team as a genin, Team Tobirama, responded. "Respectfully, my lord, that's impractical. Tsunade remains in a comatose state. At this point, Orochimaru has most likely already crossed the border with the young Uchiha, and we just don't know when Tsunade will awaken, if she ever does. We are unable to steer the village forward as it currently stands."

The daimyō sighed, closing his fan in his hand, and Koharu spoke again. "Besides, she is the one who allowed the boy to escape in the first place by sending such inexperienced younglings after him, not to mention threatening the loss of our village's jinchūriki, and by proxy, the safety of all of us as well."

The Feudal Lord tapped his temple with his fan. "I'd really hoped that Jiraiya would follow us as the next Hokage. I like him very much, and it saddens me that he turned us down." He contemplated for a moment. "So, who else is up for consideration, then?"

Danzō pounced on the opportunity. "In that case, I-"

"I nominate Kakashi Hatake," said Shikaku, successfully drowning Danzō's words, causing the mummified ninja to glare at the deer-keeper.

The pampered noble reopened his fan to air his face again. " _Oh_ , how interesting, the son of the White Fang. Yes, why not? Sounds good to me. And what do the rest of you think about that?" he asked, turning to his advisors.

One nobleman glanced at his compatriots. "He's renowned, powerful, and virtuous. He'd do well."

"But perhaps he's just a bit too young for such a position," another chimed in.

"I believe that Minato, the Fourth Hokage, was even _younger_ when he took the office," a third voiced.

A fourth advisor spoke, this time to Homura. "I can't quite remember, who was Kakashi Hatake's master?"

"The Fourth Hokage," he answered.

" _Oh,_ " the Lord of Fire whimsically said again, "is that so? If I'm not mistaken, Jiraiya was the Fourth Hokage's master, and the Third Hokage was _Jiraiya's_ master. It would seem that the matter practically settles itself! Alright then-"

"But the Third Hokage's teachings led to the Uchiha boy being tempted from our village!" Danzō yelled venomously, causing the Feudal Lord to cower behind his fan. "Orochimaru, the man who poisoned the boy's mind and led him away from our village, he was a student of the Third Hokage as well! This is what happens when one is too weak to make the difficult decisions, just as Hiruzen was too weak to make the right decision and kill Orochimaru when he had the chance, and just as Jiraiya made the same mistake not long afterward! They were too naïve, every single one of them! That naïveté has continued for generations; it allowed our ally, the Sand, to betray us, set Orochimaru on a campaign to destroy the Leaf, allowed this _Akatsuki_ to rise up, and now Sasuke, the last surviving Uchiha, has become a rogue ninja and abandoned his village to seek power elsewhere!

"What sort of Hokage do we need now? Someone able to clean up this entire mess! Someone who can reform the shinobi world, and who will enforce all our shinobi laws!" Danzō stood. "The answer is simple. That Hokage should be me."

A tense silence fell upon the room, until it was broken by one of the advisors, directing their words to the Feudal Lord. "My lord, why don't we allow Danzō to handle the situation for now?"

The Lord turned to Danzō, thinking. " _Hm_ …"

Shikaku needed to do something. "An aggressive and one-sided way of doing things is not how we of the Leaf-"

" _Yes_ ," the daimyō interrupted him. "I've decided. Danzō. I hereby name you the Sixth Hokage."

Looking up at the bandaged ninja, Shikaku saw a devious smile cross his face.

' _Oh no._ '

* * *

 **Feel free to leave a review, and please make sure to follow/favorite my page and this story to receive updates whenever I post knew content. Any support is greatly appreciated!**


	3. The Fox's Exile

**WARNING: This story is rated 'M' for a reason. It includes excessive profanity and violent fight scenes. Do** _ **not**_ **proceed if you plan on criticizing its adult themes. They are an integral part of my writing style, and I will not abandon them for a more consistent audience.**

* * *

 **The Fox's Exile**

"I can't believe this would happen," Kakashi said in a low tone. "To give up on Lady Tsunade so readily. It's disappointing."

Shikaku nodded solemnly as they both leaned against a wooden fence adjacent to the Konoha hospital. "I tried my best, Kakashi, but as you know, the daimyō has the final say, as ridiculous a practice as that may be."

Kakashi sighed, closing his one eye. "I can't say I would have enjoyed the position much, but I appreciate your faith in me. I worry for our village under Danzō's rule. He's a man who's obsessed with military strength. Obviously, power is important, but to be willing to sacrifice the soul of your village and its shinobi to achieve it," he continued to ponder, thinking on the way Danzō trained his infamous Root agents.

Shikaku looked to the sky. "The jōnin vote of confidence will take place in two weeks' time, but he still has absolute power to make any decision for the village in the meantime, unless convinced otherwise by his council." He let out a deep breath. "We need to be prepared for whatever our village might face in the future. There's never been a leader as action-oriented as Danzō in the history of the Land of Fire."

Kakashi pushed off the fence, slowly rolling his bandaged shoulder and wincing. "I'll keep my eyes peeled, Shikaku." At a nod from the master shadow-manipulator, Kakashi turned and began walking back to the hospital, wanting to look in on his loud-mouthed student.

' _I have a bad feeling about this,_ ' Shikaku thought to himself as the masked ninja turned a corner and disappeared from view.

* * *

' _Sasuke…_ '

Naruto sat on a bench in an abandoned hallway, both hands in the pockets of his loud, orange pants. Resting his head against the wall behind him, he stared at the ceiling.

' _I'm so sorry, Sasuke,_ ' he thought. ' _I'm sorry I let you do this to yourself._ '

"Naruto." The boy in question turned his head in the direction of the voice, his gaze falling on his white-haired teacher walking toward him, his left hand in his pocket, his right hand swinging lazily at his side.

"Oh, hey Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, standing and meeting his jōnin instructor halfway.

Kakashi looked low and to the right sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. "I…" he began awkwardly. "I never had a chance to apologize to you, Naruto."

The young jinchūriki looked confused. "What do you mean, sensei? What do you have to be sorry for?"

Kakashi sighed. He _really_ didn't know how to do this stuff. "Uh… what I mean to say is… I'm sorry for not getting to you and Sasuke sooner. If I had, things might have gone differently."

Naruto breathed in to speak, but was cut off.

"And as your teacher," Kakashi said, "I shoulder the blame for all of this happening in the first place."

Naruto was taken aback. He'd rarely been given apologies before, but today was chockfull of them. Why was everyone saying sorry so much?

Before he could respond, he felt a shift in the wind as a cloaked figure appeared behind him from nowhere.

"Naruto Uzumaki," the shadow said in a low, grumbling tone. "Lord Hokage has demanded your presence in his office immediately."

Scrambling to see the source of the voice, he found a long, hooded black cloak, with a white mask in the shape of a bird where the face should have been. The Anbu always creeped him out.

Kakashi could tell his student had no idea how to react to the black ops soldier's sudden appearance, let alone how to respond to his orders. Nodding, Kakashi said, "thank you, Anbu-san. I'll escort Naruto to the Academy immediately."

Without acknowledging his words, the hooded Anbu made the Seal of Confrontation and vanished in a swirl of wind.

Naruto turned back to his sensei and scratched his temple with his right index finger, thinking to himself.

"Wait, why did they say, ' _his_ office'?"

* * *

Shikamaru stood at the gates of Konohagakure, facing away from the village to look at the three Sand siblings opposite him.

"Listen…" he started awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand, his left resting on the hem of his chūnin jacket, "I haven't had a chance to thank you yet for what you all did."

A short, mocking chuckle escaped Temari's lips. "You've had plenty of chances, you just didn't do it," she said with a smile.

The shadow-spinner groaned in exasperation. "Do you always have to have the last word? Women are all such a drag," he sighed playfully.

Kankurō put both hands on his hips, puffing his chest out slightly. "Ah, no need to thank us, we owed you guys one," he said, an air of pride surrounding him.

Gaara stood straight, arms crossed and eyes down, his mind seemingly elsewhere. Shikamaru stared at him a moment. When he opened his mouth to speak, he was cut off by the One-Tail jinchūriki. "When you next see Naruto Uzumaki," he began, drawing the young Nara's attention, "please thank him for me."

Shikamaru looked confused. "Thank him? For what?"

Gaara closed his eyes and seemed to be recalling past events. "If not for him, we would not have come to your aid today." Shikamaru still showed signs of bewilderment. "If not for him, it's doubtful many would have survived the Sand's invasion of the Leaf." Slowly opening his eyes, he raised his head to meet Shikamaru's gaze. "I, as well as this entire village and our own, owe him an eternal debt of gratitude. Today, I've begun my road to repaying him."

Shikamaru's stare had widened considerably throughout Gaara's accounting. He hadn't realized how much Naruto had impacted the events of the invasion of the Sand and Sound during the chūnin exams. Smiling, he nodded. "Sure thing, I'll let him know."

Gaara returned the nod, as did his siblings soon after, and turned away from the future Nara clan head, beginning to walk. Kankurō followed suit, sticking closely to his younger brother. Temari shared a short glance with the Leaf chūnin, before giving him a small wave and joining her fellow Suna shinobi.

Shikamaru stared at the three retreating forms with a smirk, shoving both hands into his pockets. ' _That girl,_ ' he thought to himself, ' _is such a pain._ '

Once the Sand siblings' silhouettes had dissipated, Shikamaru let out a playful scoff and turned, making his way back to the Leaf hospital in hopes of checking on his comrades, and delivering a certain sand-manipulator's message.

* * *

" _What_?! What the hell do you _mean_ there's a new Hokage?!" Naruto had clasped both hands to the side of his head, his eyes like saucers.

Kakashi scratched the back of his head sheepishly, looking off to the side. "Lady Tsunade was injured during our fight with Orochimaru."

"Yeah, I _know_ that," Naruto said, "but why is there a _new_ Hokage? Granny Tsunade's only been out for a few hours!"

The venerable jōnin sighed. "Danzō, the man who was eventually chosen to replace Tsunade, pressured the Feudal Lord to name a Sixth. He and the other counselors felt that waiting for her to recover was an… _inadvisable_ decision, or so I was told." The genin still looked confused. Sighing once more, Kakashi put a hand on his student's shoulder. "Come on, Naruto. We need to get to Danzō's office. I'll answer any questions you have afterward."

Grumbling, Naruto turned to walk with his teacher. "This is so dumb."

* * *

Three knocks at the door caused Danzō to turn from the large window in his office and face the opposite side of the room. "Come in," he said in his low, gruff tone. The door opened to reveal a tall, white-haired man, leading a young, blond boy.

"Good evening, Lord Hokage," Kakashi said respectfully. "You summoned Naruto?"

Nodding, Danzō replied, "yes, I summoned _Naruto_ , not _you_ , Kakashi Hatake. Why are you here?"

The jōnin placed his hands in the pockets of his pants. "I figured now was as good a time as any to see you myself, Lord Sixth. Besides, Naruto isn't great with formalities and honorifics, I hoped my presence might alleviate any dishonor he does himself or you during this meeting."

' _He's good,_ ' Danzō thought to himself, ' _though I did help train him. Turning him away from a meeting with a genin would seem odd. My standing as Hokage is already so shaky to begin with. Inviting suspicion among the few shinobi that know me would be a bad start to my reign._ '

"So be it, you may stay, Kakashi," Danzō walked forward and took his seat at the desk of his office, "though I doubt you'll want to hear what I have to say."

A tight feeling appeared in Kakashi's chest. He was aware of Danzō's venomous nature. He knew all too well how far the old ninja was willing to go to obtain his version of safety for the village. He was already worried for the course of this meeting, and it had hardly started.

" _This_ guy is the new Hokage?" Naruto asked unabashedly, forcing an exasperated sigh from his masked superior. "He's even older than the old man was! And what's up with his face? I dunno, I have my doubts." A gloved hand struck Naruto in the back of his head, forcing him to grab the spot with both hands. "Ow! What the hell was that, Kakashi-sensei?!"

"Don't speak like that to the Hokage, Naruto," he said firmly. "Honestly, you should know that by now. Show respect to your Kage, _always_."

The orange-clad genin crossed his arms in frustration. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Danzō scoffed. "Such insolence," he said rather coolly. "Just what I'd expect from a green brat with no formal tutelage of import."

Naruto growled, raising a fist. "What'd you just say, old guy?! I don't know if you've heard, but my name's Naruto Uzumaki, and you're just warming that seat for me, ya got it?!" he yelled, showing off his feral canines in a confident grin. "Don't underestimate me or you'll regret it, ya know?!"

Kakashi let out a tired breath. ' _Come on, Naruto, really? I can't get a break._ '

Danzō smiled slyly. "Yes, yes, I've witnessed your boastful nature for myself on many occasions. You're a brash, arrogant little fool who underestimates yourself more than anyone else does, and I don't mean your shinobi ability. Please, tell me…" he leaned forward, curling a fist to support his scarred chin, "do you actually see any possibility of you becoming Hokage of this great village?"

Naruto dawned a smirk. "You better believe it, you old geezer! I'm gonna be the greatest Hokage, that includes you, don't forget it!"

A grimmer expression came to Danzō's face. "You…" he said, closing his eyes, "you will _never_ be the Hokage of this village." This clearly angered the young ninja. "If I am the leader of the Hidden Leaf, I will do all I can to protect it." He opened his eyes and looked up to meet Naruto's. "If that means I must halt any possibility of someone like _you_ bringing harm to it, then all of my power will be directed to that very task."

Kakashi didn't like where this was going. Before he could interject to cool the atmosphere, Danzō continued.

"Since day one, I have been against someone like you becoming an official shinobi of this village. Hiruzen refused to give me control of you, and because of that, you've grown with emotion. This is dangerous for a shinobi, but for a jinchūriki, it's fatal, and not just for the host."

' _A jinchūriki?_ ' Naruto thought. ' _What's that?_ '

Standing, Danzō didn't let up. "The longer you remain here, roaming free, the more imminent a threat you pose. You are a danger to this village, to this nation, to the world as a whole. I will not be the harbinger of the destruction you will most certainly wrought."

' _Oh no,_ ' Kakashi thought, his stomach turning. ' _Don't tell me…_ '

Leaning over his desk and putting both hands down forcefully, Danzō shouted in a surprised Naruto's face. "I, as the Sixth Hokage, with all authority that office grants me, hereby banish you from the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

"What?" Kakashi half-shouted, showing an uncharacteristic amount of confusion. "Lord Hokage, I must insist you reconsider, Naruto has done nothing but improve as a ninja!"

"Is that so?" he replied, turning his attention to the former Anbu captain. "He was a dismal student his entire tenure in the Academy, and wouldn't have ever passed if some weak instructor hadn't taken pity on him. He lucked his way through the chūnin exams, only beating the Hyūga because of that _thing_ inside him. And now, he's driven the last Uchiha – the last _genetic_ Sharingan – from our village forever!"

Kakashi stepped closer to separate Danzō from his student. "I have to contradict you, Lord Sixth. Naruto did all in his power to bring Sasuke – who abandoned the Leaf under his own power – back to the village."

Danzō scoffed. "The boy never would have left if he was paired with a teammate who could have helped cultivate and grow his power. Instead, he was put in a squad with the absolute _worst_ ninja in his year, an ignorant and distracting child that halted Sasuke's momentum every step of the way, and _don't_ try to argue that point with me," he said, a hand slapping the desk in an attempt to quell any further protest from Kakashi. "I've been watching your team closest of all."

Throughout all of this, Naruto stared wide-eyed at the bandaged warrior, trembling slightly. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Danzō straightened his stance. "This decision is final, and the discussion is closed." Turning, he stared out the large window once again. "You have until midnight to leave the Hidden Leaf Village. If you aren't gone by then, you'll be removed. You're dismissed."

Kakashi turned slowly to face his student, one horrified eye visible. Naruto was still staring at the Hokage, short, labored breaths escape his shaking body. Searching for what seemed like an eternity, he finally found his voice.

"What?"

* * *

A door opened, allowing candlelight to flood the otherwise abysmal room. Inside was a full-sized bed in the middle of the far wall, with wooden counters against the same wall on either side of it. On the countertops was an assortment of many different medical utensils on sterile pans. On the adjacent walls, unlit candles were nailed into the wood.

"Help me to my bed, Kabuto," Orochimaru said, still weakened from his conflict with Tsunade and Kakashi. The medical ninja did as he was bid and led his master to the bedside, aiding him into a seated position. Orochimaru took his arm back and lifted his legs onto the mattress, laying his back and head against the pillow behind him. "Show Sasuke to his quarters. We'll begin his training when I've recovered."

The young Uchiha, who'd followed them into the room, grimaced. "What the hell are you talking about, huh? You told me you'd give me power if I joined you – well I'm here, so keep your end of the deal!"

Kabuto turned to him sharply. "Watch your tone with Lord Orochimaru!" he barked. Orochimaru waved him off with his right hand.

"Now, now, Kabuto, no need to be hostile. Sasuke is a… _unique_ young man. He'll require special attention from the both of us. His attitude may be coarse, but I believe a bit of teen angst is a reasonable price to pay for things to come, wouldn't you say?" he said, a sadistic chuckle on his lips.

Kabuto lowered his head. "Of course, my lord." Walking to the door, he stood to the side. "Come along, Sasuke. I'll bring you to where you'll be staying."

Sasuke continued to glare at the bed-ridden sannin. "Hmph," he said, turning to Kabuto and coolly walking out of Orochimaru's bedroom. Kabuto followed suit and closed the door behind him. Proceeding down the hallway in the opposite direction they entered, he walked slowly, beckoning Sasuke to follow him. The Uchiha put both hands in the pockets of his white shorts and trailed behind Kabuto with his nose tilted upward.

"So," Sasuke said, letting his gaze trail along the intricate carvings on the otherwise bare walls, "what's it like living in such a boring hole?"

Stopping his progress, Kabuto turned and crossed his arms, staring into Sasuke's eyes. His own eyes were hidden by the glare on his lenses. "Sasuke, you seem to not understand the opportunity that's fallen in your ungrateful lap." At a glare from the boy, Kabuto continued. "You have a chance to learn from not only one of the greatest ninja of his generation, but perhaps the most valuable mind to ever live. You need to show him respect, it's the very least you can do to repay the immense debt you owe him."

Another cocky scoff escaped Sasuke's mouth. "Whatever. You can act like you're protecting his honor all you want," he said, continuing to walk past his new superior, "but I know you're just _jealous_."

This caused Kabuto to clench his fist and dawn a scowl, though he quickly recovered and let his confident smirk show once again. He turned to catch up with the Sharingan-wielder and lead him to his living space for the foreseeable future.

' _Me? Jealous? Never,_ ' he thought with a sarcastic smile.

* * *

"Naruto," Kakashi said, attempting – unsuccessfully – for the third time to get his pupil's attention as they made their way down the dusty road toward his apartment. "Naruto," he said more firmly, still receiving no response. Sighing, he made a half _Tiger_ seal with his right hand and disappeared, only to reappear directly in front of him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Naruto," he said again, finally drawing his student's gaze to his own.

There was no emotion in his eyes. He stared back into Kakashi's lone iris, betraying no feelings at all. They even seemed less blue. The light in them was gone.

He spoke in a ghostly tone, not at all his usual boastful self. "What is it, Kakashi-sensei?" This caused the venerable jōnin to look down and away. "There's nothing to talk about, sensei. They got what they wanted." Kakashi winced internally. After another moment of silence, Naruto said, "listen, I've got to pack. I need to leave soon."

Taking his shoulder back from his teacher, he walked around him and continued his way to the small apartment in which he'd lived for the past ten years. Kakashi brought his newly free hand to the base of his neck, rubbing it sheepishly and turning to face the boy's retreating form. Naruto was correct.

There were no words.

* * *

Naruto rifled through the cabinets in his kitchen, pulling about eight cups of instant ramen from them. Walking across his small studio apartment, he made his way to his twin bed – more specifically the gray traveling pack resting on its edge. Opening the largest pocket, he placed all eight cups on top of the spare orange jumpsuit he'd already stowed away.

In the second largest pocket, he'd packed two spare pairs of boxers (blue with green frogs, his favorite), two spare plain black t-shirts, and three white t-shirts with an orange Uzumaki swirl on the backs. In the first of the two front pockets, he had an ointment he'd received from a certain shy Hyūga girl. The second was empty. Noticing this, he looked around carefully, attempting to seek out anything he may have forgotten. His gaze led upward.

Sighing and closing his eyes, he reached for the back of his head and undid the knot in his Leaf Village forehead protector. Pulling it from his face, he held it in front of him and stared at it in contemplation.

'" _To be the greatest Hokage, that's my dream!_ "'

Naruto gasped at the memory. ' _Is this really it?_ ' he thought to himself. ' _Can I really never be Hokage? Just like that, my dream is dead?_ ' Forcing his eyes shut, he shook his head to rid himself of those musings. Opening them again, he shoved his headband into the empty pocket and zipped it shut.

Reaching under his bed, he grabbed the green bedroll that he used for missions and strapped it to the top of his backpack. Pulling it onto his back, he turned slightly, intent on leaving, when something caught his eye.

The picture on his bedside table. The first and only picture Team Seven ever took together. Sakura stood in the middle, making an excited pose. Sasuke was to her right, Naruto to her left, staring daggers at his too-cool rival. Kakashi loomed above them all, his hands ruffling the hair of both boys, an exasperated smile in his one visible eye.

A sad smirk on his face, Naruto grabbed the top of the frame and laid the picture on its face.

Turning the knob of his front door, he opened it and stepped through onto the walkway that led to the string of apartments. Sparing one last glance at his childhood home, he thought it best not to dwell on sentimentality that would change nothing, and opted to close the door once again behind him, sealing the metaphorical vault of what's now the past.

* * *

Arriving at the gate to the village as the sun was setting and coloring the sky a dark pink-orange, Naruto stopped his momentum in time to keep from colliding with a just-materialized Kakashi. Recovering, he said, "what are you doing here, Kakashi-sensei?"

' _He's... not wearing his headband._ ' Kakashi's eyebrow furrowed. "'What are you doing here', huh?" he said, placing both hands in his pant pockets. "Were you actually planning on leaving without saying goodbye, or without even _telling_ anyone that you're going? What would Sakura think?"

Another sad smile came to Naruto's face. "Tell me the truth, Kakashi-sensei," he said, looking down, "do you really think she'd care?"

Kakashi's frown deepened. ' _This… sucks._ ' "Do you not remember how she reacted when she saw you earlier today? She _cried_ for you, Naruto."

"She cried for Sasuke." The emotion left his face again. "Listen, I'm not saying she hates me like she used to, but I'm not going to lie to myself either." He closed his eyes again. "The lives of everyone close to me will get better when I'm gone." He clutched at his orange jacket, just over his navel – and more specifically, the seal that held the Nine-Tailed Fox. "That old guy was right about me."

"That isn't true. Since making genin, you've crafted bonds that are likely to last a lifetime. You've proven yourself on more than one occasion, and there are those that even look up to you now. You have _friends_ here, Naruto. They'll care when you're gone."

Another smile appeared on the young ninja's face. It didn't have the same confidence it used to. He tried to continue walking forward, but stopped when his teacher held out his hand in front of him. His eyes went wide, considering Kakashi's face, then back to his outstretched hand. Resolving himself, he reached his own hand out to grasp the fingerless glove-clad one before him. Connecting in a handshake, Naruto was suddenly pulled forward into a firm, one-armed hug from the lightning-tamer.

"I'm so proud of you, Naruto. Please be safe," he said softly before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. The sudden lack of brace caused Naruto to stumble forward slightly. His eyes went wide as the dam broke and silent tears poured freely down his whiskered face. After a moment, he fell to his knees, his left hand holding himself up, his face buried into the crook of his right arm as he wept, soaking the sleeve of his orange jacket with tears.

After nearly two minutes of sobbing in solitude, Naruto had no more tears left to shed. He donned his emotionless mask again before steadily pushing himself to his feet. Connecting the four straps on his backpack horizontally across his chest and bellybutton, he took one last, longing look at the village before allowing it to stay behind him and making his way down the road away from Konoha, interlocking the fingers of both hands behind his head.

"Yeah."

* * *

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	4. For a Stronger Foundation

**WARNING: This story is rated 'M' for a reason. It includes excessive profanity and violent fight scenes. Do** ** _not_** **proceed if you plan on criticizing its adult themes. They are an integral part of my writing style, and I will not abandon them for a more consistent audience.**

* * *

 **For a Stronger Foundation**

Staring through the large window in his office once again, Danzō stood silently with his unrestricted arm resting behind his back. He gazed at the setting sun, toward the direction of the gate to the village.

Behind him, two Anbu agents appeared in a kneeling position on the opposite side of the desk. One was of average height, with fair skin and short brown hair, and he wore a full-white mask in the shape of a cat. The other was looming and rotund, standing at about half a foot taller than his compatriot; he had short black hair and a white bear mask with double horizontal red lines under the eyes. They both wore the standard Anbu uniforms.

"Bear, Cat," Danzō said, not averting his sight from the sky, "report."

Without moving, the one called Cat responded. "Naruto Uzumaki left the village approximately four minutes ago. He was seen off by Kakashi Hatake, who did not follow him."

"I see," the Sixth Hokage said, betraying no emotion. "I want both of you to shadow him until he's close to the border. Before he leaves the Land of Fire, you both will confront him and give him the opportunity to return on his own and join the Foundation. If he should refuse, you will subdue him and bring him back by force."

"Of course, Lord Danzō," said Cat.

"And try not to render him unable to fight if he chooses not to come willingly. I plan on pursuing his indoctrination and training immediately upon his arrival." Looking over his left shoulder, he nodded, silently commanding the two Root agents to disappear in a shimmer of shadow. Turning back to the window, he continued gazing at the darkening sky, thinking to himself.

' _You are a tool created to protect this village, Naruto Uzumaki. I'll have use of you yet._ '

* * *

Kakashi walked down the mostly quiet hallway of the Leaf hospital, seeing Sakura sitting by herself on the bench he'd been sitting on earlier, just outside the operating room in which Tsunade had been.

"Sakura," he said, slightly startling the girl and causing her to look up at him from her lap, "is Lady Tsunade still in there?"

Rebounding from her surprise at the sudden break in silence, she nodded and said, "yes, Kakashi-sensei, she's receiving another operation now. It shouldn't be too difficult, at least that's what Lady Shizune said. Just some minor, last-minute tissue grafting and cleaning."

A small smile appeared in the jōnin's eye. "That's good to hear." The smile dissipated quickly. So quickly, in fact, that Sakura noticed.

"What's wrong, Kakashi-sensei?" she asked gently.

Sighing, Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand as his right toyed with the bells in his pocket. "I…" he said, trailing off. Seeing worry growing on the young kunoichi's face, he scrambled to put words together in his head. "I… need to tell you something, Sakura."

The pit in her stomach was growing. Her teacher sat on the bench to her right, adjusting constantly, unable to feel comfortable. He refused to meet her eyes.

"What is it, sensei? You're beginning to worry me," she said, her voice trembling slightly.

Letting out a deep breath, Kakashi knew this wasn't going to get any easier. "You aren't going to like what I have to say, Sakura," he began, the pink-haired genin dreading the coming news. "Naruto was summoned in front of the Hokage, and he-… uh…" he trailed off worriedly.

Knowing why he hesitated, Sakura reassured him, "don't worry, Kakashi-sensei. Lady Shizune found out about the new Hokage and told me," she said sadly, her stare downcast. "I'm disappointed that the village wouldn't wait for Lady Tsunade to recover, but there's nothing we can do about it right now. All we can hope for is that they come to their senses when she wakes up."

"Right," Kakashi said, laughing slightly, glad to see her confidence in the legendary medical kunoichi hadn't waned. "Well… the new Hokage, a man named Danzō, summoned Naruto to his office. He…" he trailed off again, but a glance at Sakura's waiting face told him he had to just get it out. "He blamed Naruto for Sasuke abandoning the village."

Sakura's face widened in shock. "What?" She didn't even see how someone could come to that conclusion. She knew better than anyone, Sasuke's choice was his alone. No one forced him.

Sighing for what felt like the hundredth time that day, Kakashi continued. "That isn't all." The change in his tone from sad to grave worried Sakura even further. "Danzō is a man who feels that no action is too far if it's done to protect the Hidden Leaf Village. He's done many horrible things to maintain his version of safety for Konoha and everyone in it. It's difficult to argue with his results, but his methods have always been questionable."

Sakura clenched her fists in her lap. "What does that have to do with Naruto, sensei?" He remained silent for seemingly an eternity, his one visible eye closed. She grew impatient, finally attempting to break the suspense. "Kakashi-sensei, please! What does that mean for Naruto?"

Opening his eye once again, Kakashi looked at his one female student sadly. "He banished Naruto from the village."

Sakura's eyes went wide. So wide that Kakashi worried they'd fall out of her head. Her body began to shake as her mouth hung open slightly. Her knuckles were white from the force of her grip on the bottom of her red dress. She started taking in short breaths, unable to get ahold of one that could calm her.

"Sakura, I'm…" he started, but he knew there was nothing he could say that would quell the emotions she was sure to feel.

Ignoring his half-statement, Sakura got up from the bench and began walking down the hallway, soon turning a corner and disappearing. Once she was gone, Kakashi let out a deep breath that he'd been holding for some time. He leaned his head against the wall behind him and closed his eye once again. In a rare loss of composure for the venerable assassin, he muttered a single word to himself.

"Fuck."

* * *

Shikamaru sat in a chair on the left side of Choji's bedside, the door to his back. He was watching his friend munch on a bag of chips, an ecstatic expression on his face.

"Should you really be diving back into snacking like that, Choji? You literally woke up ten minutes ago from a near-comatose state, take it easy, man," he said lazily, his head resting on his right arm, which was propped up on the arm of the chair he was sitting in.

Swallowing the chips currently in his mouth and proceeding to dig around for more, Choji said, "oh, don't be like that, Shikamaru, you know me. I gotta eat." Feeling that explanation was satisfactory, he pulled the next handful of chips to his mouth and started munching happily once again.

A sigh escaped Shikamaru's lips, but he got distracted by the door behind him bursting open. He looked over his shoulder slowly to see Sakura stomping in.

"Hey, you mind keeping it down?" he asked in a 'couldn't-be-bothered' tone. "I was planning on taking a nap and maybe doing some-, hm?" he said, getting distracted by the look on Sakura's face.

"Shikamaru, I need you to do something for me," she said strictly, causing the young Nara to shrink a bit.

' _She's as scary as my mom,_ ' he thought to himself. "Uh… sure thing, Sakura, what is it?"

"I need you to help me gather the other teams into Neji's room."

He and his chubby teammate looked reasonably perplexed. "W-… why do you want to do that? Some of them have probably turned in for the night."

She closed her eyes for a moment, grimacing as she remembered what Kakashi had told her, then opened them again. "It's an emergency, Shikamaru. I have something I need to tell everyone."

They could both see the seriousness in her face. "Do you want to gather our sensei as well?" he asked, getting up from his chair.

Turning, she started walking to the door. "No. They probably already know." Stopping with her hand on the doorknob, she looked over her shoulder at the pair. "Thank you, Shikamaru."

Without waiting for a response, she walked through the door and closed it behind her, leaving the two present members of Team Ten in silent shock – Choji obviously less so, as he continued to consume his salty snack.

Staring at his chunky friend, the skinny chūnin sighed.

"This is such a pain."

* * *

"Lee, please stop talking," Neji said, an irked expression on his face. He'd woken up a few minutes before Choji, and his green-clad teammate – who'd returned to the village hours previously – had been waiting impatiently at the talented Hyūga's bedside. He hadn't stopped talking since the white-eyed boy had woken up.

"But Neji!" the eccentric genin shouted, one fist clenched in a burst of emotion, tears staining his over-dramatic face, "I'm just so glad to see your fire of youth has not yet been extinguished! Guy-sensei will be proud to hear it!"

Neji scoffed. "You're both such loud fools, it's infuriating," he said, crossing his arms as he sat in his hospital bed, the sheets pulled up to his waistline. He was bare-chested, with bandages covering the multiple wounds from his fight with Kidōmaru. "I don't understand how I've made it so long with such an insufferable pair."

Before Lee could spout off another line about youth, the door swung open, allowing Tenten, Ino, Choji, and Kiba to walk through. Neji's annoyed look deepened at the sudden influx of chatting bodies. A vein appeared above his left eye.

"What is going on here? Why are you crowding me?" he asked as everyone made a semicircle around the foot and side of his bed.

Tenten made a calming gesture with her left hand. "Pipe down, Neji, Shikamaru told us to be here."

He sulked again. No one talked to him like that when he was an asshole. "Why would Shikamaru tell you to come here? I've barely been awake an hour, can't I have some time to myself to recover? This is ridiculous."

"Don't ask me," she responded, "he just told us we had to meet here and that it was an emergency."

Just then, the still-unblocked doorway was again filled with incoming ninja as Shino, Hinata, Sakura, and Shikamaru made their way into the room as well. They joined the first group around Neji's bed, with Sakura and Shikamaru staying back, the latter closing the door behind them so they wouldn't be overheard. One-by-one, the present members of the Konoha Eleven each turned to face the chūnin that summoned/lead them there, aside from Neji, who was already looking in their direction.

Ino was the first to speak. "Alright, Shikamaru, what gives? Why are we here?"

The spiky-haired kid turned back to them and shrugged. "Don't ask me, Sakura's the one who told me it was really important that we all meet immediately," he said, gesturing at the girl in question with his head. At his words, they all turned their attention to the kunoichi, awaiting her to inform them.

Their stares made Sakura uncomfortable, but she steadied herself and spoke nonetheless. "I take it everyone's heard about what happened to Sasuke?"

Ino looked sad at this, but Tenten let out a _hmph_. "You mean, 'what Sasuke _did_ '? No one forced him, he took off on his own."

Sakura knew she was right, but it wasn't her fault that hearing others talk about Sasuke that way hurt her. "Well that isn't the point. Something worse has happened since then." If any of them weren't paying attention before, they were now. How could something worse have happened? Their comrade, the prodigy of their generation, the last Uchiha had abandoned the village and become a rogue ninja. On top of that, their Hokage had been put out of commission and replaced by a guy that everyone seems to agree is bad news. What could _possibly_ be worse than all that?

Sakura had to regain her composure a bit, as it had slipped slightly thinking about what she needed to say. "The new Hokage, that Danzō guy…" she trailed off, causing them to lean forward in suspense. "…he kicked Naruto out of the Hidden Leaf Village."

Shikamaru turned to her with a shocked expression. _That's_ what she needed to tell them?

There were gasps and audible expulsions of breath among the group, but all of it was drowned out by a shout of " _What?!_ " from Hinata. They all turned to her (as she'd naturally placed herself behind everyone's initial line of sight) to find her eyes bulging exponentially, her mouth agape in shock. Noticing them all glaring at her, a pink tint rose to the surface of her cheeks and nose. Usually, she'd have cowered and apologized, letting everyone else continue to speak without her.

Not today.

Tensing herself and shaking off the embarrassment, she spoke again in the tone of voice she used when she was desperate or worried. "What do you mean? Naruto had to leave the village? What did he do?"

Looking the girl in her milky, pupil-less eyes, Sakura said, "nothing at all. The Hokage apparently blamed him for Sasuke leaving, but as Tenten said…" she gulped, "Sasuke did that on his own."

"That's preposterous!" Neji exclaimed from his seated position. "Naruto was crucial to our mission to bring him back! We would have failed far more decisively if he weren't with us."

"Yeah, what the hell!" Tenten added in. "That doesn't even make sense!"

"I know," Sakura responded. She held up her right hand and clenched it, staring at it in anger. "Honestly, my blood's been boiling since Kakashi-sensei told me."

Hinata was visibly trembling. Being who she was, most would assume she was scared for Naruto's safety, or nervous to speak so openly again. The fact is, she was infuriated. Her teeth were grinding and her usually soft face was forming a scowl. ' _Why?_ ' she thought to herself. ' _Why is it always Naruto? Why is he never allowed to just be happy? Why is there always someone waiting to tear the floor out from under him, and send him back into the darkness and loneliness he grew up with?_ '

"We…" Shikamaru started, causing all but the Hyūga heiress to devote their attention to him. "We can't let this happen." Nods and words of confirmation were shared amongst the group. "We have to do something. Naruto's a pain, but he's one of us, a ninja of the Leaf, and he just put his life on the line to bring back Sasuke. This _can't_ be the thanks he gets."

Nodding, Neji said, "I agree. Naruto deserves better than this, but more than that, it's simply idiotic to let someone like him just wander out of the village. The fact that this _Danzō_ person doesn't seem to know that is… suspicious."

"We cannot allow our dear friend, Naruto, to be turned away from his home!" Lee shouted in his usual, dramatic fashion. "I will personally travel to the ends of the world and bring him back, no matter how hot my youth must burn to do so!"

" _Hm._ " Shino had been looking at the floor, thinking to himself.

"What is it, Shino?" Kiba said, a wine coming from the pup napping on his head.

Looking up to his feral friend, he said, "I have a bad feeling about Naruto's 'banishment'… it feels as if there was an ulterior motive behind it all."

Neji chimed in, "yes, if they really felt Naruto had committed any crimes, he'd be jailed and tried here, not sent wandering the wilderness for all time. Something doesn't add up."

Ino sighed. "Well, if we're going to do something, we need to start now before that orange idiot gets eaten by a bear or something."

His eyes having been closed for some time, Shikamaru spoke. "We should send a team after him, but if the Hokage is the one who ordered his removal from the village then I doubt he'd be too inclined to send a retrieval squad. That means…" he looked up and made eye contact with individual members of the group, "we're gonna have to do it on our own, _off_ the books."

Choji nearly choked on the chip he'd been eating. Coughing the piece out of his windpipe and swallowing it properly, he said, "I don't know if that's such a good idea, Shikamaru… that sounds like it would be a pretty serious issue with this new guy, doesn't it?"

The young Nara nodded. "Yeah, but I'm not the kind of ninja who listens to the Hokage no matter what. I'm the kind of ninja who protects the village, but even more than that, I'm the kind of ninja that's willing to do what needs to be done to help a comrade. Pretty obvious from how I almost died to bring an ass like Sasuke back." He chuckled slightly at this, though Ino and Sakura growled. "This is completely different, though. Naruto's a friend, despite his annoying loudness, and he loves this village. If he's in trouble, I want to do what I can to help him."

There were nods from them again, including any that were worried a few moments ago.

Sensing the murderous rage pouring from Hinata's petite frame, Lee turned and placed a hand on her shoulder, showing her a confident smile. She looked up at him and quickly put her death glare away, embarrassment overtaking her again. Raising his other hand, he shot her a 'thumbs up' and a toothy grin, saying, "don't you worry, Hinata. We're going to bring Naruto back, safe and sound."

Attempting to show thanks for his reassurance, she returned his smile and nodded, though her mind was still racing with worry.

Taking a moment to make sure there were no protests, Shikamaru spoke again. "Now, the fact is that Choji, Neji, and Kiba are in no condition to be a part of this team, so they can't come. That eliminates a lot of our stopping power, but we're just gonna have to deal."

"Shikamaru, you're not really in great shape yourself," Ino said with a side glare.

He shrugged. "That may be, but I'm in better shape than they are, and I'm the only chūnin in our group, so I need to lead the squad, unless any of you know of a chūnin or higher rank ninja that'd be willing to go on this illegal mission with us?" he asked sarcastically. When no one answered, he continued.

"Shino, Lee, and Hinata. You're on the team."

Shino nodded in his usual calm manner, though he was inwardly excited. He was disappointed when he returned from his assignment the previous night to hear that his comrades had gone on an important, A-rank mission that he wasn't chosen for. He was, of course, aware that his being away from the village was a reasonable cause to not bring him along, but the snub was still dissatisfying.

Rock Lee shot both arms into the sky and went on yet another tirade about the springtime of youth and the hot, fiery rage that burned within him, urging him to save his friend and rival.

Hinata held her shy mask, but in her mindscape, she was skipping in both relief and anticipation, wanting desperately to personally make sure her inspiration was safely returned to the village.

' _Naruto…_ ' she thought to herself. ' _I'm coming._ '

Sakura was the first to protest the team list.

"What?!" she shouted. "There's no _way_ I'm being left out of this! I already couldn't help bring Sasuke back, I'm not failing Naruto, too!"

Shikamaru sighed, expecting an outburst like this. "I don't think it's a great idea for you to come, Sakura." Noticing her getting angry, he quickly continued. "Hey, I'm not trying to put you down! Just here me out, will ya?" He placed a hand on the back of his head. "Listen, you've had a… bad couple of days. One teammate abandoned the village. Another was kicked out of it. Your leader was injured trying to bring the first teammate back. I don't think it's smart for you to bring that much emotion on a mission, especially this one."

Sakura wanted to argue, but she knew there was no point. No one had a better mind for leading than Shikamaru. She also had to admit that he was correct.

She nodded sadly, signaling for him to carry on. He opened his mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by Ino.

"Hey! Shikamaru! Why wouldn't you bring your only _actual_ teammate who's mission-ready on this super-secret, illegal mission with you?! That's so dumb!"

Sighing again, he responded, "Ino, what purpose would your jutsu serve on this mission? We're trying to bring Naruto home, and he didn't even leave on his own. We aren't expecting a fight, and more importantly, we aren't expecting the need for intel-gathering. You aren't combat oriented. Hell, I wouldn't even be going if we had another chūnin here, I'd probably have put Tenten in my place, but the fact is I've gotta build this team in response to what the mission is, and you and I really don't fit the bill."

Grumbling, she mumbled, "yeah, yeah, whatever."

Shaking his head, Shikamaru said, "alright, does anyone else feel the need to question the team choices again?" When no one protested, he continued. "Good, you'd be wrong anyway. Team, go get prepared and meet me in the forest outside the village. _Don't_ let the front desk stooges see you, got it?"

The three members of his team nodded in confirmation.

He nodded back. "Alright, let's go bring that idiot home."

The room mostly emptied as some went to prepare and others went home to worry. Neji laid back to rest his head on the pillow behind him and closed his eyes, but they opened again and looked to his left when he felt that someone was still in the room with him.

"Lady Hinata?" he said somewhat irritated, seemingly pulling her out of her own head. She looked at him, her face going red.

"Y- yes, Neji?"

"Could you please leave?"

She looked around and yelped slightly when she noticed that everyone else had left. "Yes, I'm sorry. Please feel better." She turned and made her way to the door, embarrassed.

Sighing, Neji spoke again. "He'll be okay, Lady Hinata. I'm confident you'll protect him." This stopped her with her hand on the doorknob.

"Thank you, Neji."

Turning his head to face the ceiling again, he closed his eyes, a small smile appearing on his lips. "And please return safely."

Smiling, she said, "I will," and exited the hospital room, leaving her cousin to rest and recover.

* * *

After an hour of walking leisurely down the path to and from Konoha, Naruto had decided to leap into the trees, and he'd spent the last thirty minutes jumping from branch to branch at an accelerated pace. He'd been doing his best to keep his thoughts on that day's events at bay, but it was getting more difficult the longer he traveled.

' _I took for granted how much faster this kind of thing goes when I'm with a team,_ ' he thought to himself. ' _I'm going crazy with boredom._ '

As if responding to a cue, someone sped past Naruto and landed on a branch in front of him, causing him to stop his momentum. Attempting to keep from falling, he steadied himself and straightened his stance, trying to get a better look at the person in his path, he noticed it was a member of the Leaf's Anbu. He was average in size, and wore the typical Anbu uniform, complete with a mask shaped like a cat.

"Naruto Uzumaki," the black ops agent said in a monotoned voice. Naruto couldn't gather any information from his stance, as they were trained not to betray any emotions or intentions with their body language. As far as anyone could tell, this man was simply standing guard over the portion of forest into which Naruto was attempting to travel.

"What do you want, Anbu- _san_ ," he responded sarcastically. Turning his head slightly, he noted the second, much larger Anbu landing on a branch behind him. That one had a bear mask, but otherwise, he was dressed the same as the first.

Cat spoke again. "We've been ordered to return you to the village."

A fake laugh escaped Naruto's mouth. "Whoever gave you that order is out of the loop. I got kicked out of the village, by the _Hokage_."

"We're aware," the smaller of the two Anbu said, "the Hokage is the one who gave us the order. You're to be returned to the Hidden Leaf and put through the indoctrination of Lord Danzō's Foundation program."

Naruto let out a growl. "That guy's gonna need to make up his mind, does he want me gone or not?"

"Lord Danzō never wanted you gone," Cat responded. "He had no way of acquiring you for the Foundation while you were a documented ninja of the village. Now, with you exiled, he can bring you into the fold and train you himself."

"Hmph. That's pretty funny." Naruto crossed his arms. "If the old geezer wants my help, he should ask me himself instead of going behind the backs of the entire village and pulling stunts like that."

A rare chuckle came from the agent. "You mistake me. Lord Danzō does not require your help. You'll undergo a rigorous program that will erase who you are now. You'll become a tool, a weapon for Lord Danzō to wield as he sees fit." Noticing a severe reluctance growing on Naruto's face, Cat added, "I will warn you – if you do not comply…" he reached up with his right hand and grasped the tantō blade strapped to his shoulder, "we've been ordered to bring you back to the village by force."

Naruto growled again. "Gee, that sounds like a great offer," he said sarcastically. "If you think I'm coming back to the village just to be that mummy's pet, you're dead wrong!" He removed his pack and let it fall to the ground beneath him, settling into a stance. "I'm gonna prove myself my _own_ way, and when I come back, it'll be to take the Hokage's seat from that old bastard!"

Sighing, Cat pulled his tantō from its sheathe, flipping it to a reverse grip. Bear, having not said anything to this point, clapped his hands together and began infusing chakra.

"I didn't want to do this," Cat said. "Despite our training, I'm not exactly fond of fighting kids; however, Lord Danzō was very adamant that this was among the most important missions he's ever had to undertake using his private agents." He crouched, eyeing Naruto carefully. "I'll do what I must to make it a success."

A short laugh left Naruto's clenched teeth. "Bring it, fool! I'm not gonna be anyone's puppet, believe it!"

Cat made a one-handed seal.

 _Tiger_

He made silent use of the **Body Flicker** , vanishing and causing Naruto to look around for him frantically. The sudden disappearance caught him off-guard and made him forget about Bear behind him, who landed a jumping, chakra-aided kick between his shoulder blades. All the air leaving his lungs, Naruto was sent forward quickly before colliding diaphragm-first into the branch on which Cat had been standing. Appearing back on the branch, Cat put the bottom of his right foot in Naruto's face and pushed, sending him to the forest floor.

He landed on his back, knocking any remaining oxygen from his body. Inhaling desperately, he was unable to pull a decent breath for several seconds. His vision was blurred, and his bones were aching.

The blond genin sat up and groaned, finally wheezing his way to a balanced respiratory cycle. " _Damn_ it," he said, rubbing his eyes to focus his sight. Cat flickered to a standing position just in front of him, his sword arm hanging free, his left hand placed on his hip. Bear landed from the tree just behind him, standing stiff.

"Listen," Cat said, "you really don't want to do it this way. Wouldn't you like to get a good night's sleep in a real bed without needing to get bandaged up first? I don't like beating up children, but I have a mission. That means if you keep resisting, I'll drag you back to Lord Danzō with both of your legs broken if I have to." Naruto's eyes went wide at this. "I'm sure the Hokage would prefer a gimp, imprisoned Nine-Tails to a healthy, free one."

The boy in orange growled his frustrated growl once again. He put his right hand on the ground, curling his fingers into a fist and pulling up dirt in the process. He started pushing himself up. Bear reached out to stop him, but Cat waved him off. Standing, Naruto looked back into Cat's masked face.

"You better not underestimate me, you bastard," he spat viciously. "It'll be the last mistake you _ever_ make."

Cat scoffed, shaking his head. "Damn, kid. You really don't get it." He lifted his free hand and clenched it, bringing it across Naruto's face in a backfist that sent the boy several meters away until he rolled to a stop. He yelled across the stretch of forest between them. "This is not a decision you get to make. You either come back healthy, or you come back hurt. There is no 'option three'. Honestly, though, you're starting to waste Lord Danzō's valuable time at this point." He ran through hand signs.

 _Ram – Horse – Tiger – Rabbit – Snake_

" **Earth Style: Devouring Earth**!" he yelled, slamming both hands palm-down on the ground in front of him. The dirt began to tremble beneath them, and three discs of rock about two feet in diameter exploded to the surface, floating above the grass. Focusing, Cat sent them spiraling toward Naruto at high speed.

The boy scrambled to his feet, spinning away from the first disc, causing it to hit a tree some distance behind him. The second shattered when he hit it with a spinning left kick, but the third hit his left shoulder as he landed, twisting him into the air and back to the earth on his stomach.

Lifting his head, Naruto saw Bear closing in on him. He made it back to his feet in time to parry a straight right, then block a spinning left elbow, but a right forearm followed through and connected with the side of his face. Stumbling, he kept his balance and ducked a roundhouse kick. He placed both hands on the ground and flipped forward, putting both feet into Bear's chest. Attempting to gather momentum after landing, he continued his flurry and used a right hook, but the much larger man caught the boy's arm under his own and swung him around before tossing him into the tree that had been behind him.

 _Tiger_

" **Earth Style: Great Mud River** ," Cat said, returning his hands to their flat position. A stream of liquid dirt formed beneath Naruto's body, causing him to begin sliding toward the waiting Anbu. Panicking, Naruto mad the _Clone_ sign.

" **Shadow Clone Jutsu**!" he yelled. A second Naruto appeared on the side of the mud just ahead of him and grabbed his hand before he passed, pulling him out of the slide and back on to solid ground. He stood and began running toward the Anbu, his clone in tow. Holding out his hand, the real Naruto expelled chakra through his palm, while the fake one began spinning it for him. Finally closing the distance, Naruto pushed the finished jutsu into Cat's abdomen.

" **Rasengan**!" he yelled as the ball of energy was buried into his target. A puff of smoke surrounded the Anbu, and when it dissipated, Naruto's clone was in his place, receiving the full brunt of the deadly jutsu. The clone's eyes went wide, but almost immediately, it exploded as clones do when struck.

' _Damn it!_ ' Naruto thought to himself. ' _He used the_ _ **Substitution Jutsu**_ _on my clone!_ ' Before he could properly react, a heavy fist connected with the right side of his head as Bear threw him once more through the forest. Before he even landed, Cat's right foot hit his lower back and sent him straight into the air. Once he was several feet off the ground, Bear appeared above him and put the same fist from earlier in his gut, forcing him back downward.

 _Snake_

' _ **Earth Style: Iron Skin,**_ **'** Cat thought to himself as his right leg turned black and became harder than steel. When Naruto was only a few feet from the ground, Cat dropped and landed on his left hand, then twisted and brought the heel of his boot down on the genin's midsection in a guillotine motion, forcing blood to spray from his throat.

Naruto was driven into the earth, cratering it beneath him. He could feel that the kick broke several ribs, and he suspected a lung might have been punctured. The impact stunned him badly, rendering him unable to move, and his mouth had begun to fill with blood. After a moment of trying to catch his breath, he passed out.

Cat and Bear stood over the fallen jinchūriki. Scratching the back of his head, Bear spoke for the first time since they ambushed the boy. "You think we overdid it?" he asked in a low tone.

Cat scoffed again. "Nah, the kid deserved it. He has a big mouth." Sheathing his unused tantō, he crouched. "Come on. We've gotta get him back to the village before he wakes up, or we'll have another headache on our hands."

Nodding, Bear bent down to assist his partner. They grabbed Naruto under both arms – Bear took the right, Cat the left – and started lifting, but dropped him again when the boy's body burned their palms.

" _Ah_ , damn it!" Cat shouted as they both leapt backwards, grabbing at their tantō blades. They looked back at the young ninja and saw that he was secreting a red aura.

"What the hell is that?" Bear asked gruffly.

Cat grunted. "It's that _thing_. We're gonna need to be careful."

Standing, they watched as Naruto's entire body was consumed by the Nine-Tails' chakra. His hair became even more unruly and wild than usual, and the whisker marks on his face deepened, almost like scars. His visible scrapes and bruises healed almost instantly, and his torso was jerking and jumping slightly as the bones in his ribs were being set. Cat took a step toward him, but stopped when his upper half started rising from the ground all the way to a standing position, at which point Naruto slumped, his arms and head hanging loosely.

He was facing Cat, who fully removed his sword. "Hm," the confident Anbu said, again switching his weapon to a reverse grip, "be careful. At this point, he's an entirely different opponent."

Hearing a voice, Naruto slowly raised his head to meet the source of it, finally baring his blood-red eyes and feral canines, both of which twisted his face into a vile scowl. The masked warrior took a step back at the sight of the boy's monstrous features, but seemed to reprimand himself for it. ' _What the hell?_ ' Cat thought. ' _That… that thing I just felt. It had to be fear, but… that's not possible._ '

Not taking his eyes off the young Uzumaki, he said, "we need to take him down. _Now_." At this, he quickly closed the distance between them and swung his blade horizontally, aiming for his shoulder in hopes of cutting deep enough to render the appendage useless. Unfortunately, just when he was about to connect, Naruto vanished.

' _What?_ ' he thought as he finished his stroke. Once the sharpened metal fully passed where Naruto's body had been, he reappeared, as if he'd just ceased existing for the duration of Cat's blow. Before the Anbu could react to his surprising speed, Naruto leaned forward in a blur and connected with a headbutt, throwing Cat into a backflip that sent him – first flying, then rolling, and finally sliding – across the forest floor until the base of a tree stopped his momentum.

Slowly, Cat rose to a knee, feeling his mask and finding that a semi-diagonal crack had formed across the nose. He let out a slight chuckle. ' _These masks are incredibly difficult to break with blunt force. I've only ever seen them get scratches from blades, but even cracking from a punch would surprise me, and he did it with his head._ ' He stood shakily. ' _And he's not even wearing a headband._ '

When Cat had charged their target, Bear followed suit, but once Naruto had seemingly vanished and rematerialized to avoid his comrade's swing, he stopped in his tracks about ten feet behind the fox-boy, his hand still resting on the still-sheathed tantō. The kid's speed was shocking, certainly, but the force of that headbutt…

Cat was about to speak, but hesitated when he noticed Naruto shaking violently. He could hear something coming from him, but he couldn't tell what it was. Sending chakra to his ears, he listened closely.

' _Is… is he… growling?_ '

He was distracted from his musings when he saw that Naruto was staring daggers into his soul. The boy had his fists clenched, his claws drawing blood from his palms. His teeth were grinding so hard that it was nearly audible, and blood and saliva were dripping down his chin. His demonic aura was enough to bring anyone to their knees, and he'd been staring at Cat so long that the atmosphere was suffocating. Just when it seemed like the weight of his hatred was going to crush the Anbu beneath it, the fox's chakra exploded outward, cracking and scarring the earth around him.

Naruto let out a blood-curdling roar through fangs and venom, and struck fear into the once-fearless hearts of the two men he'd soon call victims.

* * *

Hinata met her teammates in the training grounds on the outskirts of the village after sneaking past Izumo and Kotetsu (both of which were asleep at the desk, something she'd found exceedingly disturbing). The three boys were all crouched in a circle, making last-minute preparations to their gear while they waited for her.

"Sorry I'm late," she said in a hushed tone, "I needed to make sure no one saw me leave the compound, though I'm worried about the two chūnin at the gate..."

Shikamaru stood and chuckled lightly. "It's fine, they're always like that. Surprisingly, they always seem to be ready when shit goes down. As for being late, we should still be able to catch up to Naruto in an hour if we leave now. Everyone ready?" The other two stood, and all three nodded to their superior. He returned the gesture. "Good. We need to hurry. If Naruto crosses the border of the Land of Fire, it'll be too dangerous to follow. Let's go."

Without another word as not to alert anyone to their presence outside the village, the four of them leapt into the trees and began tracking their comrade, wanting to bring him back home before it was too late.

* * *

Still clutching his tantō, Cat made another break for Naruto, running at a slower pace to react more efficiently. ' _I'm not letting you catch me off guard like that again,_ ' he thought to himself, but seemingly on ironic command, Naruto disappeared once again, this time appearing in front of Cat and burying a straight fist into his stomach. He left the ground, but before he could go far, Naruto was behind him on one hand, landing a kick to his back.

Cat coughed blood into the inside of his mask as he landed on his front equidistance from both Naruto and Bear. He tried to get up again, but Naruto was on him almost immediately. He grabbed Cat by the back of his vest with a clawed right hand and yanked backward violently, throwing him in the opposite direction. He faded into the darkness before even touching the ground.

" _Damn it_ ," Bear said before removing his mask and tossing it to the ground.

 _Tiger_

" **Fire Style: Art of the Dragon Flame**!"

Bear made a fist and slammed it into his diaphragm, forcing air from his mouth in the form of a ball of fire shaped like a dragon's head. It flew at Naruto rapidly, but the boy jumped and turned his body horizontally, spinning at a blinding speed as the fireball flew beneath him. Naruto landed on all fours just as the jutsu struck a tree and exploded, setting a large portion of forest aflame.

Once his hands and feet touched down, he sprung up and closed the gap in an instant, hitting Bear in the chest with a jumping forward kick. The man stumbled and was caught with a right punch to his unprotected cheek. Naruto jumped again and braced himself on both of Bear's shoulders, flipping over his head. His feet hit the trunk of a tree behind his enemy and he latched on using chakra, letting go of the Anbu and crouching. Bear turned to face him, but Naruto pushed off the tree and drove his fist into his face, taking him off his feet and sending him flying through the forest like a bullet, collapsing multiple burning trees on his way.

After what seemed like minutes airborne, Bear passed through the inferno, landing painfully and sliding to a halt. He looked up and saw Cat sitting up in front of him. Pushing himself up to his hands and knees, he said, "I don't know if we can beat the kid like this. I think we'll have to-"

He stopped when he felt Naruto appear behind him. Grabbing the large Anbu by the hair with his left hand, he pulled him up to his knees and stretched his head backwards, forcing a groan from him. Staring directly into the eyeholes of Cat's mask, he clamped his right hand under Bear's chin and yanked back hard, snapping his neck and killing him instantly. He freed the man's hair, allowing his broad form to slump lifelessly to the grass.

Cat looked at his dead partner's body, prone on the ground. Without Bear, he knew he had no chance of beating a jinchūriki using a tailed beast's chakra, no matter how bad of a ninja they were. Sighing, he looked at the ground between his legs.

' _I have no choice. I have to do what I can to succeed in my mission, even at the cost of my life._ '

Preparing himself, Cat tried to shoot to his feet, but Naruto was too fast, putting the sole of his right sandal into his chest, driving him back to the ground. Standing above him, Naruto pressed, forcing the air out of the beaten Foundation agent in a wheeze.

Cat looked to his right and saw his tantō. He thrust his hand toward it, but before he could connect, Naruto dropped to a knee in between his ribs and grabbed the outstretched arm by the wrist with his left hand, forcing it back down. Completely winded but thinking he'd caught the boy off-guard, Cat brought his left hand up with the kunai he'd grabbed while using the tantō for sleight-of-hand, aiming at his blond head. Naruto wrapped his right hand around Cat's left fist and guided the blade into the Anbu's throat.

Choking on his own blood, Cat stared into the eyes of the boy he couldn't return to his master. They were still red. The whisker marks on his face were still darkened. His teeth and nails were still elongated and sharp, but…

His expression was… sad.

It was reassuring to the man, who'd been taught from a young age to never show emotion.

"Lord D-Danzō, I… failed you. I…" He trailed off as his lungs filled with blood, and the light left his eyes behind his mask.

Naruto couldn't seem to pull his gaze from the expressionless veil of the man whose life he'd just ended. He'd never killed anyone before today, but now he'd killed two. It was a feeling he didn't like at all. It felt like there was pressure on him… like his clothes weighed more. Finally releasing Cat's clenched fist, Naruto stood shakily and turned, walking back toward the clearing in which the fight started.

Finding the area with scarred earth and mudslides, he noticed the Nine-Tails' chakra receding rapidly. ' _Damn it,_ ' he thought as the exhaustion began catching up to him. His irises returned to their usual bright blue, his whiskers faded slightly, his claws and fangs rounded. Wobbling, his eyes fluttered into the back of his head, and he had one last thought before collapsing and slipping into unconsciousness.

' _Son of a… bitch…_ '

* * *

The bells on the wide brimmed hats resting upon the heads of the two figures chimed whimsically with their strides as they made their way up the road toward the Hidden Leaf Village. Their cloaks billowed in the strong, summer night wind, leaves and dust swirling around their feet. The open gate of Konoha finally came in to view.

"Sasori my man," the taller of the pair said, "this is gonna be a _blast_."

* * *

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